Ezra Taft Benson

By Kellene Ricks

The Lord hearkened … and healed (2 Chr. 30:20).

1 Sarah and George Benson were excited when they learned that Sarah was to have a baby. They had just been married a few months, and this would be their first child.

2 When Sarah’s labor started on August 4, 1899, both her mother and George’s mother were there with the doctor to offer their help. Sarah was grateful for their support.

3 It wasn’t an easy delivery. The baby boy weighed more than eleven pounds! He wasn’t breathing when he was born, and the doctor didn’t think that the infant would live.

4 But the baby’s grandmothers refused to give up. They each offered a silent prayer while hurrying to get two pans of water, one warm and one cold.

5 They dipped the baby into the cold water, then into the warm water. They did this over and over, praying all the time.

6 Imagine how excited they were when the small baby gulped his first breath of air and let out a cry! Their prayers had been answered.

7 The infant was named Ezra Taft Benson, and he grew up to be a great man. When he was eighty-six years old, he became the thirteenth President of the Church.

Illustrated by Paul Mann