“Of More Value than Soles”

On February 14, 1878, Anna Gaarden Widtsoe’s husband, John, died. At 29, she was a widow with two young sons: John (6 years) and Osborne (2 months). Widtsoe moved her small family from Namsos to Trondheim to be near family and so her sons could receive a better education. There she opened a dress shop to supplement her husband’s pension.

One day, Widtsoe sent a pair of young John’s shoes to Olaus Johnsen, a local cobbler, to be resoled. When the shoes were returned, she found a religious tract stuffed in each shoe. Curious, she took a second pair of worn shoes to Johnsen’s shop.

After they discussed the repairs she wanted, she turned to leave. But the cobbler interrupted, “I can give you something of more value than soles for your child’s shoes.”

“What can you, a shoemaker, give me better than soles for my son’s shoes?” she challenged.

“If you will but listen,” he declared, “I can teach you how to find happiness in this life, and to prepare for eternal joy in the life to come.”

Discovering Johnsen was a Latter-day Saint, Widtsoe recalled the terrible things she had heard about the religion and left in a rush. Yet she could not deny the power of his words. For nearly two years, Widtsoe frequently attended meetings held in a room in Johnsen’s home. The things she learned often conflicted with the traditions of her family and country, but they resonated powerfully in her heart and mind. On April 1, 1881, Anna Widtsoe was baptized in the icy waters of the Trondheim Fjord.

Many of her family members and friends tried to convince her that she was deceived, but she would not turn away. She found support among the members of the Trondheim Branch. Widtsoe threw herself into gospel work and became a leader in the branch Relief Society. She later decided her sons were more likely to flourish in their new faith in Utah. In October 1883, Anna, John, and Osborne Widtsoe set out on the long journey to Zion.