“Rummage-Sale Book of Mormon,” Ensign, Feb. 1990, 69
Rummage-Sale Book of Mormon
When the Fargo North Dakota Stake Relief Society Board set a goal for the sisters of the stake to distribute ten thousand copies of the Book of Mormon, my friend Kathy Douglas took the challenge seriously. She included family pictures and sent her books out monthly. But she wasn’t quite expecting the outcome that fellow branch member Cheryl Wells called to tell her about when one Book of Mormon found a home.
Cheryl had seen one of Kathy’s marked books at a rummage sale and, after wondering whether to leave it for someone else, decided to buy it. A few days later, a young college-age man appeared at her door selling books, and she felt impressed to give him Kathy’s Book of Mormon.
Cheryl asked the young man to return the next day when her husband, David, would be home, and upon his return, David and Cheryl bought a book from him. They visited with him, and before letting him go, gave him the rummage-sale Book of Mormon.
“I have many Mormon friends,” the salesman replied as he thanked them, “but none of them ever gave me a Book of Mormon.”
A few weeks later, the young salesman returned with Cheryl and David’s book.
“I’ve read the Book of Mormon,” he said. “I’ve even called my dad in North Carolina to tell him about it.”
The young man’s parents apparently did more than just read the book. Several weeks later, the salesman phoned Cheryl from North Carolina to tell her that he and his parents had been baptized. He had written down her phone number from the check she and David had given him for the book they had purchased and wanted to share the news. Of course Cheryl then shared the news with Kathy, the member-missionary whose enthusiasm to give away copies of the Book of Mormon resulted in this conversion.
When I heard the story of the rummage-sale Book of Mormon and its unusual journey, I realized that, somehow, the Book of Mormon falls into the hands of those whom the Lord has prepared to receive it—provided we have done our part to make the book available.
Illustrated by Pat Gerber