"Sidney Wallace - Finding Truth Down Under"
by Spencer Wallace
The purposes of the Lord can be difficult to
understand, especially when His plans differ from ours. When we find ourselves obliged to change
plans because of events and trials in our lives, it is easy to become
frustrated. However, the Lord always has
our best interests in mind, although we may not realize it at the time. My great-grandfather, Sidney H. Wallace,
faced many unexpected deviations in his life.
These challenges, while difficult at the time, all helped place him
under favorable circumstances for his conversion to the gospel.
When Sidney was born
in 1900, he was a ‘blue’ or oxygen-deficient baby who was not expected to
live. Soon after being measured for a
coffin, he made a miraculous recovery. He
was raised in Surrey, England, during a time when anti-Mormon sentiments were
strong in Britain. His family was active
in the Church of England, where they were well paid to sing in the choir. Life went well
for the Wallace family until Sidney’s father began to experience health
problems due to England’s damp climate. They left for Australia in 1913, where they
would be forced to start their lives over again in an unfamiliar country. Though this was a difficulty at the time, it
later proved to be a blessing as it removed Sidney from a country which was not only strong in anti-Mormon feelings at the time,
but also one that would become inaccessible to missionaries during World War I.
Australia proved to
have many opportunities for Sidney. After
finishing his schooling at age 14, he went to work as a clerk for the West
Australian House of Parliament. During
the four years he worked there, a promising future and potential career awaited
him. The indoor
work, however, did not agree with his
health. After leaving his government
contacts and prospects behind, he took a job with a rancher 200 miles from
home. His work consisted of planting and
harvesting 500 acres of wheat and oats with one other worker – a challenging
task to say the least. Though the work
was hard, Sidney was now exactly where the Lord needed him to be. It was during this time that he came into
contact with missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
One summer after
harvest, Sidney returned home to see his family. While there, he found that his mother had
been baptized. Over the course of that
summer Sidney came to enjoy the company of the missionaries, who tried hard to
convince him of the truthfulness of the Gospel.
Despite their attempts, Sidney simply could not believe that Joseph
Smith really was a prophet of God. He
later returned to his work on the farm, far from his family and the missionaries. As he unpacked, he discovered the Book of
Mormon, which his mother had slipped into his baggage. Working in such a remote location left him
with little to do in the evenings after work, so he studied the book. As he continually read, he developed a
testimony that what he was reading was true.
When he visited home the following summer, he was baptized in the Swan
River.
The many changes
Sidney had to make in his life culminated in his conversion to the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. From the time of his baptism,
he felt a desire to unite with the rest of the Saints and applied for a visa to
the United States. While waiting for his
visa, he spent his time assisting in the construction of a chapel in Subiaco,
West Australia, and tracting with the missionaries. He set off for America on Christmas Eve of
1925. It was an emotional time for him as he looked
back on his home and his family for the very last time. He would later raise a family and become a
righteous influence for many. Because of
his faith in the midst of trials, as well as the actions of his loving mother, Sidney
embraced the Gospel of Christ and helped many others to enjoy those same
blessings.
Tonight we went to a banquet for the Sons of Utah Pioneers, because Spencer won a scholarship for his essay he wrote!! Woot! It was pretty cool. We were special guests there and they fed us really well :)
Spencer also had the lovely opportunity of speaking to the banquet party about the conversion story/essay he wrote. He did a fantastic job. When his introduction was being read, the nice, old guy said, "...in his own words he says, 'I also had the good fortune to recently marry an amazing young woman who is the best thing that ever happened to me'." Then all the people there "awwed" and thought we were super cute. And then Spencer gave a great little spiel.
The food was awesome! Not only did they give me a scholarship, they gave me a free date night, and a well-catered one at that! (They even had everybody take home leftovers!) The other scholarship winners had great stories, most of them being converts, with one of them talking about his dad. My favorite stories of the night were the girl who asked her mom for permission to get baptized, to which her stout Southern Baptist mom replied, "well you've already been baptized, but another dippin' won't hurt you!" and the guy who got baptized just because the rest of his family did, planning to fade into obscurity out at college, but then finding out that the church keeps really good records! Good stories from all of them. It was nice to get treated to a nice dinner.
Also a special thanks to Amanda Goodman for reading over my essay and giving me pointers!
And then they presented Spencer with a beautiful check :)
All of the scholarship winners! (Plus the guy that was doing the announcing.)
The nice, old ladies talking to us afterwards were really impressed with Spencer's story and by his testimony.
