His Faith in God Gave Him Confidence

“I remember as a young man I had $50.00 in my pocket on one occasion which I intended to deposit in the bank. When I went on Thursday morning to fast meeting—the fast meeting used to be held on Thursdays instead of Sundays—and the bishop made an appeal for a donation, I walked up and handed him the $50.00. He took five of it and put it in the drawer and gave the $45.00 back to me and said that was my full share.

“I said, ‘Bishop Woolley, by what right do you rob me of putting the Lord in my debt? Didn’t you preach here today that the Lord rewards fourfold? My mother is a widow, and she needs $200.00.’

“He said, ‘My boy, do you believe that if I take this other $45.00, you will get your $200.00 quicker?’
“I said: ‘Certainly.’

“Well, he took it.

“While walking from fast meeting to the place where I worked, an idea popped into my head. I sent a telegram to a man asking him how many bonds of a certain kind he would buy at a specified price within forty-eight hours and allow me to draw a draft on him through Wells Fargo’s Bank. He was a man whom I did not know. I had never spoken to him in my life, but I had seen him a time or two on the streets of Salt Lake.


“He wired back that he wanted as many as I could get. My profit on that transaction was $218.50.

“The next day I walked down to the bishop and said: ‘Bishop, I made $218.50 after paying that $50.00 donation the other day and so I owe $21.85 in tithing. I will have to dig up the difference between $21.85 and $18.50. The Lord did not quite give me the tithing in addition to a four to one increase.’

“Someone will say that it would have happened anyway. I do not think it would have happened. I do not think I would have had the idea. I do not think I would have sent the telegram.

(Story excerpted from "Presidents of the Church, Student Manual, Religion 345, Chapter 7, Heber J. Grant." Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Prepared by the Church Educational System, Salt Lake City, Utah.)

“. . . I am a firm believer that the Lord opens up the windows of heaven when we do our duty financially and pours out upon us blessings of a spiritual nature, which are of far greater value than temporal things. But I believe he also gives us blessings of a temporal nature.” ~ Heber J. Grant, Seventh President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.