My parents' stories of their conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

My father Charles Kenneth Powrie 

Born 5 November, 1921 in Lydenburg, Transvaal (Mpumalanga), South Africa

New horizons were there to conquer a year later in the form of an offer of a job by a former shipmate who asked me to move to Johannesburg to join the firm of Stanley Motors, Limited. This I accepted and -in 1946 we moved to Krugersdorp and here we found happiness and joy in building a home and in rearing our two children. Timothy was born here in 1947.

This was a strange, quiet life which seemed to be the calm before the storm. Finally in May, 1950 the change came, quietly and determinedly, when two young Americans knocked on our door with the offer of a message of great importance. My wife, Philippa, as though moved by some unforeseen force, invited these young Elders from Utah and Idaho to come inside whilst the week's wash-for a growing family became of secondary importance.

Mother led the way in this new intellectual exercise, whilst father tagged along in somewhat polite boredom, bred of post experiences which had resulted in such religious excursions. They had provided nothing more than a temporary distraction ending in on obscure wilderness. This time, however, it seemed different, as mother's arguments (given to her so strongly by her mother) appeared to be losing ground in the face of truth which was irrefutable. This resulted in talk of baptism and then why not both of us taking the step? On the 10th of September, 1950 we entered the waters of baptism at old Ramah to join what we now know to be the only true Church and Kingdom of God here upon the earth. We shall always remember with affection the four missionaries who spent time and effort in our conversion, Elders E. Mauary Payne, Parry D. Harrison, Farrell J. Roberts and Dean D. Baxter. Thus started the new life in a Church which, in its temporal appointments, showed very little sign of being the one and only Church of Jesus Christ, for we met in dingy halls and other humble surroundings in limited numbers and with very inadequate facilities. However, the true sweet spirit was there to guide us as we, like infants, crawled, then toddled, then stood upright and walked with our heads high yet humbled by the testimonies which we felt growing within our hearts.

The wisdom of the Lord in prompting growth and testimony through activity soon became manifest in my being called to one assignment after another - branch clerk, branch teacher, counsellor in the Krugersdorp Branch Presidency and then, after having been a member of the Church for just over seven years, the staggering and humbling call to serve as the Transvaal District President. This call in itself was one of the highlights of my life. The day as Transvaal District Conference, 13th April, 1958. We had returned home between sessions and, during that time, received a call from the District President, Brother I.C. Louw, requesting that we come in early. We duly arrived and were ushered into the presence of the Mission President Glen G. Fisher and President Louw, who dropped what I described in my diary as “the bombshell”. I had anticipated some call or another but certainly did not think of a position as the District President! Philippa and I looked at one another in astonishment, but the spirit whispered to us that we could do nothing but accept this high and wonderful calling. We appreciated the sobering honour and I was set apart by President Fisher that he admonished me to recall the promise given to Nephi of old that the Lord would not do anything save he would open the way for them to accomplish that which they had been commanded to do. This had the effect of helping me to recognize the promptings of the spirit in this calling and has been a blessing and a testimony. I have felt my inadequacy fall away in the face of the strength and guidance of the spirit which has helped me to do many things beyond myself and has indeed brought the treasures of Heaven into my life in this great service to the Lord.

The years have rolled by and our family has been increased in that three other precious souls have been brought to us namely, Jane in 1950, Leslie in 1954 and Ronald in 1959. These three children, sent to us during the course of membership in the Church, have all by strange coincidence been born on the 23^rd of their respective months - an honour we felt indeed to be thus matched in some small way with our prophet Joseph Smith, born 23^rd December.

The Church is our life. We have found the answers to every problem in service and in this association with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Recently we celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary of our wedding day, and Philippa and I are able to bear witness to the fact that the sweeter years are here with us now because of the fact that we have attempted to mould our rebellious, stubborn lives, and the lives of our children, to the restored Gospel. We know without any doubt whatsoever, that these Gospel principles hold the key to that happiness and joy which is the heritage of children of men here upon the earth.

We hope and pray that we may continue to serve in this Kingdom and that-we shall be able to enjoy such precious experiences as we have in the more recent years, in having our eldest daughter, Judy, serve an honourable mission in South Africa. Currently our son, Timothy, is serving a mission in the British South Mission, thus bringing the Gospel to others as we had it brought to us.

Our next goal in life is to visit the House of the Lord as a family, to be sealed thus for time and all eternity. With the blessing of the Lord and with our ability to work in this direction also, we hope to achieve this in July, 1969. We pray that this will lead us to be able to serve better in the future and thus repay our Father in Heaven in some small measure for the great and glorious blessings which he has showered upon us over the years.

My mother Beatrice Philippa Dryden Dymond Powrie

Born 26th September, 1917, Mossel Bay,  Cape Province (Western Cape), South Africa

When Judy was nineteen months old, we moved to Krugersdorp, Transvaal, and Timothy was born there on the 2^nd August, 1947 and we decided that our family was complete!

In May 1950 a friend of mine asked me “Have the Mormon Missionaries called on you yet?” I replied that they had not.

“Well, when they do, you must ask them in just to listen to their lovely accents - you don't have to listen to what they say!”

Meanwhile the Church of England Padre had called on me just a short while before that and during our, discussion I had said “But I don't believe that,” or “I don't believe that either”. He challenged me to do the thing which prepared me to receive and accept the gospel when the missionaries presented it to me. He said “Forget what you don't believe and read the Bible to find out what you do believe. Write out a list of the things that you do believe.” I did just this, reading the New Testament, and my list started with 1. I do believe there is a God. 2. I do believe that Jesus is the Christ. 3. I do believe the Bible to be the Word of God.

This surprised me because my mother had studied and passed on to me Theosophy, Yogi-ism, School of Truth, Unity Church of Christianity, etc. She believed that every time the earth needed a Saviour, one would be supplied and that Jesus Christ was only one of many. Also, she far from accepted the Bible to be special word of God, although she quoted from it so often.

The spiritual climate created by my reading the Bible and writing the list of beliefs – I regret that space does not permit me to tell of some of the fancy and very interesting ideas that came into my mind on, the subject! – was just the perfect one for the reception of the message brought by the Missionaries. When they knocked on our door I said “Oh yes, I've heard about you, come right in.”

We joined the church three months later; I, because I knew that it was true, and therefore was duty-bound to support it, and Ken, so he says, to keep me company. Elder Payne, in his last two Months of mission said that he had never lost his temper with any other investigator, but he used to get really mad with me for arguing in favour of reincarnation. In the end he said, “Pray about it,” and I did, because I knew I was right and I wanted to prove him wrong! The answer came to me one morning in a vivid flash of light inside my brain, “either you must believe in reincarnation or you must believe in resurrection – you cannot believe in both.” I investigated the two ideas and decided that I believed the Bible, so I accepted resurrection, and joined the church.

My mother taught me the Law of Tithing, in principle, although as far as I know she never paid tithing herself. A month before we were baptized, when the Missionaries, who were staying with us paid their first month's rent, I said to my husband, “Now can we start paying tithing?” I believed that tithing was the Lord's due, although it still did not seem to matter to me which church we paid it through, so we have been paying tithing ever since, for one month longer than our membership.

We also decided to have a larger family – Elder Harrison said I was still young enough to have four more, but that fourth one has never come. Eleven months later Jane was born on 23^rd August, 1951. Leslie followed on 23^rd February 1954 and Ronald on 23^rd January, 1959 - we began to wonder if the “23^rd” has any special significance for us!

Citation:

Extracted from their autobiograhical entries in a collection of Autobiograhical Sketches.

Wright, Evan P (Editor). 1969. Autobiograhical Sketches - South African Mission - 1969. South African Mission, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Johannesburg, South Africa