John henry Stobbe

My Aunt Therese told me these things when I visited her in her home in Salt Lake City about one month before her death, as well as I can remember it. Henry Stobbe was serving and receiving military training in one of the distant cities in Germany. One day he received a letter informing him that his mother was very ill and she wanted to see him as she had something important to tell him. Henry obtained a furlough and left for home. On his arrival, he was told that his mother had died shortly before; however, when he went to her room, she revived, opened her eyes and spoke to him. She told him that she had been on the “other side” but was not permitted to go to the place of her desire. She was told that some work had to be done for her, and that Henry was the only one who could do it. Henry returned to his regiment, wondering what he could do in order to fulfill his mother’s request. Several days later, he received a letter informing him of the death of his mother. Several years passed and his mother’s wish had not been forgotten. Henry married Theresa and they had a son. The family resided in the city of Koenigsberg, where he had established a trucking business. Nearly all of the people in the northern provinces of Germany belonged to the Lutheran Church, but were always willing to hear pastors of different religious denominations. (I remember accompanying my mother to these meetings many times.) Then one day a friend of the Stobbes told them about a meeting that had been arranged with a couple of missionaries from the United State, who were explaining some events that had taken place there nearly seventy-five years before. The Stobbes attended this meeting and found that everything they heard seemed to be in harmony with their own beliefs. The subject of baptism and other work for the dead was mentioned, and Henry immediately remembered the wish of his mother. He asked himself the question, “Is this what my mother had in mind?”. Henry had many questions, and most of them were answered by the missionaries. He was convinced that this was the solution to his mother’s request. He was going to fulfill the wish of his mother. Henry continued with his trucking work. One day, with the difficulties of getting the team of horses out of the gravel pit, he used some unkind language to his horses. He heard a voice from above calling, “Henry, Henry, Henry”. He was shaken. The man working with him had not heard anything, but some of the men further back in the gravel pit had heard. The men felt that this was a sign indicating the approach of death for Henry, but Henry knew that it was the beginning of a great change in his life. Within a very short time, he was baptized by immersion in the partly frozen waters of the Pregel River, by the missionaries from the United States. He sold all he had and prepared for the journey to Salt Lake City. He arrived there in 1903, and Aunt Theresa and their son, Otto, followed the next year. Henry Stobbe and his wife were the first segment of the Buettner family to travel to this great land of America. The Bluhm and Ross families followed several years later. Through Henry and Theresa, we have all benefited from his courage in leaving his loved ones, his friends and his Country. This is the story as I have heard it in 1903 in Germany, and again here in Salt Lake City from Aunt Theresa a month before her death.

The Life Story of Johann Heinrich Stobbe (Better known in America as John Henry Stobbe) as told to Ella Stobbe, his daughter Johann Heinrich Stobbe, known in America as “John Henry Stobbe” hereby gives his life story as related to his daughter, Ella. He relates his life story for his descendants’ sake that they might know of his acceptance of the gospel’s message in East Prussia; that they might know of his determination to remain faithful to the covenants he made with God in accepting the gospel; and that the many miraculous incidents of his life might be faith promoting to them as an admonition to them to remain faithful to the cause that he and his good wife accepted in their fatherland. Johann Heinrich Stobbe was born in Sandersdorf, Kreis Labiau, East Prussia on September 1, 1869. His father, Gottfried Stobbe, married Henriette Boehm. They had three sons, Karl, Gottfried and Wilhelm. Though this marriage was not of long duration, it seemed to be a very happy one. It was climaxed by a very tragic accident, which caused the death of his wife, Henriette. Gottfried Stobbe was a farmer and was harvesting a crop of hay at the time of the accident. His wife was helping him, as was the custom in many Eastern European countries, and she fell on a pitchfork. It penetrated her stomach and she died as a result. Henriette had many friends, and among them was a young lady by the name of Amalie Krautien. She was fond of the children and felt sorry for them. Her kindness to the motherless children drew the attention and friendship of Gottfried and resulted in their marriage. From this second marriage came five more children: Henriette, Johann Heinrich, Wilhelmine, August and Rudolf. Henriette died in infancy, leaving Johann, as the oldest child of the second marriage, and it is of him this story is told. The Stobbe family was poor and in debt due to the suffering and expense involved with the death of Henriette. The hospital bills, the medical care, and the burial amounted to a large sum that was a heavy burden on the family. To pay the debt, Gottfried had to indenture his services to a wealthy farmer for the duration of nine years. The contract was so binding that it held him fast until the last pfennig was paid without any chance for release. When Johann was nine years old it became necessary for him to seek employment among the local farmers in order to gain his livelihood. He was only allowed two hours weekly for school, a condition that continued until he was 14 years of age. When Johann was 13 years old, his family moved to Molsennen where Johann started working for his father at his father’s place of work. By doing so, his father was able to secure Johann with a job that paid only for his board. This condition lasted until Johann was 19 years old, at which time he left home to secure work for himself. The first year on his own, he secured work from a farmer and remained at that job until he had saved sufficient funds to move to the city of Koenigsberg. There he hired out as a chauffeur for a millionaire by the name of “Vaedda.” This gentleman was a widower and he had three maids. Johann was satisfied with his new position. He enjoyed the working conditions and never complained. As a result, he gained the good will of the oldest maid, “Molly,” who was also the cook. The other two servants were women of a complaining nature and were compelled to take less money. One evening. Molly told Johann, “Because you do not complain, I am going to treat you to something extra.” She fixed him some nice sandwiches and a glass of beer. Johann and the three maids were having a pleasant time entertaining themselves that evening when they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Fearing that the owner was coming, they quickly pushed Johann into a clothes closet that only had a curtain for a door. In his hurry to hide, Johann did not forget to take along his sandwich and beer. To the girls’ surprise, it was not the owner, but his two sons that came home. One of the sons was studying to be a doctor; the other had just completed studies to be a Lutheran priest. The student doctor went up to one of the maids by the name of “Minna,” and said, “Come and sleep with me tonight.” The priest went to the third maid, whose name was “Greta,” and asked her to sleep with him but she refused. Gretta knew that Johann had seen and heard all that was going on, and she was afraid Johann would tell her sweetheart. Surprised by her refusal, the priest said, “Why not, Greta? We have had so many good nights together. He then grabbed Molly by the neck and asked her whether she was free from the old man (meaning her employer). “Until now I’m free,” she answered. “What difference does it make if father or I sleep with you?,” said the priest. He then turned to Greta and said, “But even if you don’t sleep with me tonight, I want all of your girls to come to church tomorrow to hear me give my first sermon as a Lutheran priest. I have already completed my examinations, and the celebration has made all the other priests drunker than I am. They have given me this paper with the best sermon on it that the church has. Tomorrow, I will lay it in my Bible and read it. And if those old women who sit in the corner have not tears in their eyes, just let the devil come and take them!” Sure enough, that Sunday the whole congregation at the church had tears in their yes, and everyone commented freely upon the wonderful sermon the young preacher had given. However, Johann didn’t go to church to hear the sermon. He had been devout in his beliefs as a staunch Lutheran. But after seeing with his own eyes and hearing with his own ears the happenings of the night before—the vile, corrupt actions of a priest, one supposed to be a holy man—Johann was so appalled that he denounced all religions as a fraud. He felt they were all corrupt and he believed nothing relative to religion. Not long after this incident, Johann quit his chauffeur’s job and moved to the province of Hanover. He worked there until he began service in the military that lasted three years. Johann had only been in the army a year, when he received a letter from his sister, Wilhelmine. She informed Johann that his mother had been sick for a year. She told him that just prior to writing the letter, she came home for lunch to find their mother near death. Distraught over his wife’s condition, Johann’s father went to the boss of Johann’s brother, August, to secure permission for August to be with his mother that afternoon. August’s boss denied his request with the statement that, “the old woman has lived so long, it would be easy for her to live until evening, and if anyone remained home with her, it would be trouble for them.” When August finally got off work, Gottfried and August returned home with sorrowful hearts, expecting to find that Amalie had passed away. Indeed, she had died that afternoon. Wilhelmine was so distraught that she threw herself upon her mother’s bed and tearfully pleaded for her to come back to life. To her utter astonishment and great joy, her mother did come back to life. Her first words were, “Write a letter to my son Johann and tell him to come home. I have something to tell him before I die.” Upon receiving Wilhelmine’s letter, Johann took it to his sergeant, a man named “Feltwebel.” He called a number of officers in Johann’s regiment together to read Johann’s letter, where upon they all had a good laugh. They said, “We know you’re crazy, but we believe that your people at home are more crazy than you.” Their laughter did not deter Johann, and he pressed his case. He was finally allowed to take his letter to the commanding officer. The commander never cracked a smile, but with courtesy extended Johann three weeks furlough to go home. Johann was happy to be going home and desired to look his best while passing through the great city of Berlin. He wanted to meet his mother as a fine gentleman and a son of credit. Upon arriving home, his first wish was to know what his mother desired of him. She gave him the following answer, “Keep quiet my son, and I will tell you when we are alone.” When the rest of the family had left for work, and Johann and his aged mother were alone, she said, “The other afternoon when I died, I went to the spirit world. It was nice there. It was green with many flowers—much nicer than this world.” She went on to say that she knew many spirits that were there. Then she came to something and went through it. She came to a wonderful place with many flowers and a heavenly smell. Suddenly a man came to her and asked, “How did you come here? Go back to earth and tell your son, Johann, that he will do a great work for you and then you can come into this place. She asked about her other children and was told that they did not belong in that beautiful place.. This incident made Johann believe that he should die and then, when his mother was there, he would be able to do something for her that would help her over the fence so that she could be in that beautiful place. The delivery of the message made his mother feel much better, and his father believed that his wife would live a long time. However, several days after Johann returned to his company, he was handed a letter informing him that his mother had died a few hours after he left her. He pondered what he had to do to fulfill his mother’s request. Johann served two more years in the army, and when his service obligation was completed, he was allowed to return home to Koenigsberg, East Prussia. A six-month courtship of Maria Theresa Buettner resulted in a happy marriage that took place April 14, 1895. They were very happy, and on January 25, 1896, they were blessed with a son. They named him Ludwig Heinrich Otto Stobbe. When Otto was nearly two years of age, Johann started a grocery store, but it did not succeed as well as he desired. He then started a trucking business of hauling bricks and gravel for the construction of buildings. The Stobbe family was doing well in this business when, one day, a lady whom the family knew visited their home with a young Mormon missionary from Salt Lake City, Utah. His name was Lloyd Woodruff, and when he stepped into their home he said, “Peace be with this home.” Johann thought that such a young man could not possibly bring peace, because they already lived in peace as a happy family of three. The lady explained to Johann that God has spoken from the heavens to a fourteen-year-old boy. This usual statement caused a very hearty laugh to burst from Johann and he was compelled to leave the house to keep from laughing. He went to the barn, then watched and waited for the visitors to leave. The lady friend invited the Stobbe family to meetings with the American missionaries at her home, and they accepted the invitation. They attended the meetings on two Sundays and were taught the new gospel. It seemed to impress Johann more than the others, especially when the missionaries mentioned baptism for the dead, a subject that none of the listeners had ever heard before. Immediately, his mother’s request prior to her death came to Johann’s mind. He now knew what his mother had in mind. However, soon after meeting with the missionaries, trouble set in for Johann. In the course of two years 29 of Johann’s horses died from sickness. This loss ended just as winter began and they were placed in very meager circumstances. With their money gone, their meals were rationed to just two meals a day, and they were scanty, consisting many times of only potatoes and salt. Johann blamed the troubled times on the Mormons. He believed that if they could heal the sick and drive out devils, they could also bewitch him and cause him to lose all his horses. He decided he would have to become friends with them so that they would take the curse away. Johann began reading the Lutheran Bible, and to his surprise he found the very passages that the missionaries had preached upon when he had attended their meetings two years ago. Christmas was approaching, and Johann’s brother, August, arrived to pay them a visit. He did not forget to bring the Christmas whiskey with him and he told Johann and Maria that they were going to celebrate. Maria reminded him that, while August had furnished the whiskey, the family did not have a bite of bread or anything else to eat in the house. August was astounded and asked what had happened. “Before you were doing so well, and now you are so poor. I can’t understand it,” he said. .August went into town and came back with a large sack of groceries. When they sat down at the table to eat Johann told August that since the Mormons had entered his home, he had experienced a lot of trouble, so much so that they had lost everything. Johann said he now intended to prove the truthfulness of the Church. August related that, in the factory where he worked, there was a Mormon and all the people hated him. They played all kinds of jokes on him. They would hide his lunch bucket and fill his coat sleeves with rocks. Everybody slandered him, and August said he didn’t want Johann to become like this man. Emphatically, Johann said, “August, they give testimonies that they have the truth!” August replied, “Things happen naturally. The missionaries come and preach all day until eleven or twelve in the evening. When you go to sleep the first night, nothing happens. The next day, they preach some more and finally, you wake up in the night seeing stars and angels.” “August,” Johann said, “they stand up in their meetings and give testimonies that they know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that Jesus is the Christ. But, if anything happens to me in the night, it will never be a testimony to me.” On February 5th of 1899, a man hired Johann and another man to haul building stones to the depot. The next day, a neighbor sent his two sons with a team to assist in hauling the stones. They had to go down into a deep quarry to get the hewn stones. Johann, with the aid of the two boys, would fill the wagons with stones. Then, Johann and the youngest boy would hitch a team of four horses to the wagon and pull the wagon out of the quarry to the road. The four-horse team was then detached and replaced with a two-horse team that pulled the wagon to the depot. While Johann was returning to the quarry with the four-horse team, he was thinking, “Now that it will soon be springtime, I will be able to do better. Now I can work. I know that God will not throw money down from heaven, and even if a handful of Mormons claim they have the Kingdom of God, where the biggest crowd goes, there will I go.” Suddenly, coming from high in the sky a voice called, “Stobbe…Stobbe….Stobbe!” It was a nice sunny day, between ten and eleven o’clock in the morning. Johann grew very pale and asked, “What is it?” As he stood looking toward the ground, the young boy he was with asked Johann if he had lost something. Johann knew that the boy did not hear the voice. However, the boy’s older brother had stopped loading stones and was looking up at the sky to see who was calling “Stobbe.” There were ten other men working in the quarry cutting stone, along with their foreman. They also heard the voice call “Stobbe” and looked up at the sky to see from whence it came. The foreman was a Baptist minister named Newman. All the men gathered around Johann, feeling sorry for him. Newman said, “That’s too bad. Johann is a nice, strong, young man, but we will lose him soon. He will die. That was the dead that called after him.” Johann turned to the minister, and with a firm voice said, “Newman, I shall not die, but there will be a big change for me.” Newman asked him if he was going to become a Baptist. Johann emphatically answered, “No, I am going to become a Mormon!” The minister said, “But those *#%#* people believe more on Joseph Smith than they do Christ.” Johann retorted, “Did you not hear the voice calling me? Newman replied, “Such an unbelieving man as you are, a voice will call him when he becomes a Baptist.” Johann said, “I know what I prayed for and what my thoughts were when the voice called me. I know that Mormonism is the true church.” Maria looked out the window and saw Johann coming home from work with the two neighbor boys. She noticed that he looked very pale. She thought that an accident had happened down at the quarry or that Johann was sick. She ran out to meet him and asked what was wrong. Before Johann could answer, the older of the two boys told her that a voice had called Johann from heaven. After this incident, Johann was as good as his word. The Stobbe family spent two weeks searching for a Mormon meeting house or chapel. They finally found one and attended the meetings. They also invited two missionaries to their home. Maria, trying to be a gracious hostess, made some strong coffee for them. The missionaries told her that they did not drink coffee and explained the Word of Wisdom to the family. Johann then requested to be baptized. However, the missionaries told him he would have to prove his worthiness. They said he should attend the church meetings, learn the gospel, and later be baptized. Then they asked Johann if he knew that Mormons paid tithing. He asked what tithing was. The missionaries explained that members of the church paid one frank out of each ten that they received. “Do all the members pay tithing?” asked Johann. “Most of them do,” said the missionaries. “Well, if they can do it, I can.” He replied. One of the missionaries then asked Johann if he knew that the church believed in plural marriage. Johann answered, “It must be better in America than here. Here, you can only support one wife.” The other missionary told his companion, “We cannot shut him out of heaven. If he wants to be baptized, then we will have to do it.” Maria was then asked what her thoughts were about the church. She answered, “It is not good when a man believes one thing, and his wife another. So, it is best that I believe as he does and be baptized.” On April 20, 1903, Johann and Maria were baptized in the Pregel River. They had to walk for an hour and a half through a blizzard of hail and snow before they arrived at the place of baptism. “Let’s go back,” Maria said, “the missionaries will excuse us.” But Johann said, “Ten horses cannot pull me back. I will go regardless of this storm!” When they finally reached the place of baptism, the dark storm clouds moved away from the full moon and it shone with such brightness that it seemed almost as light as day. Over a hundred people had gathered to witness the baptism of these new seekers of the true church. Some of the men had equipped themselves with long poles to push large, floating blocks of ice towards the center of the river in order to clear a place near the shore to perform the ordinance. Johann and Maria stepped into the water with Elder Edward W. Braby, who was to perform the baptism. The water suddenly seemed to be very warm to the young couple, with no noticeable chill. After the ordinance had been completed, and the people were ready to return home, black clouds once again covered the moon. The storm raged as before, pouring down hail and snow. The following morning the ground was covered with a heavy snow. That summer, things did not go very well with Johann. He had the misfortune of losing another horse. He had been thinking about moving his family to Salt Lake City, and this loss increased his thoughts more than before. However, he had to abandon the idea of taking his family with him, because he found he could not raise enough money to take his wife and children with him. But, he figured, if he went alone he could soon earn enough money to send for the family. Johann informed the missionaries of his resolve, but they tried to discourage him. They felt he should not go alone and told him there were a lot of flies and mad dogs in Salt Lake City. They told him exaggerated tales of Indians in the mountains and stressed that there were lots of lions, tigers and bears to be dealt with. However, this did not deter Johann from his intended journey. “I do not care what there is, I’m going anyway,” he said. He began securing money for the voyage by selling all the furniture in the Stobbe house and every other saleable article the family possessed. When all was sold, he only had 15 pfennigs (pennies) over the price of the train and steamship tickets to reach Utah. In the latter part of September 1903, Johann left his wife and son in East Prussia with only 15 pfennigs for their support. With tear filled eyes, Maria watched the train depart with her husband who was bound for America. Sorrowfully, she asked the Lord where should she go or what she should do to support herself and her child. She had joined the true Church of Christ and she knew it. She now placed her trust in the Lord. She did not have to wait long for aid, because help soon arrived. A well-to-do friend, knowing her circumstances, provided a room in his home for Maria and her son, and also enough work so that she was able to care for her son. Maria was happy to have work and a comfortable room. With a light heart, she looked forward to the future when she would once again be with her husband, not in the Fatherland, but in the goodly land of America. Johann arrived in Salt Lake City in October of 1903. The American economy was in a depression at the time, and he was unable to find work. Thirty days passed, and he was still without a job. The thoughts of leaving his family without money worried him and his future began to look dark. One day, A German friend, who could speak English, went with Johann to an employment agency located on Second South Street between State and Main Streets. A construction company was going to build a railroad somewhere in California and was looking for workers. His friend told Johann he could secure work in the company camp by paying the agency a $1 commission , which he was happy to do. He was told he would receive $2 a day and 75 cents for meals, but he would have to sleep outdoors and furnish his own bedding. Johann’s friend also made his travel arrangements for him. He would be traveling alone. The next day, Johann arrived at the employment agency with his bedding on his back. The employment agency clerk took Johann n to the corner of Main Street and gave him instructions on how he would be transported to the job site in California. The trouble was, the instructions were in English and Johann didn’t understand a word he said. As the agency man turned to leave, Johann grabbed his shoulder and said in German, “I have given you my last dollar for this work, now you must take me to the train depot.” The employment agent didn’t understand German, and the two began yelling. Johann was desperate. This was a life or death situation for him, and his vociferous protestations caused a crowd to gather around the two men. As more and more curious people stopped to see the ruckus, the crowd grew large enough to cause a streetcar to stop. At this point, a policeman entered the scene and asked what the trouble might be. The employment agent told the policeman that he couldn’t understand Johann or what he wanted. The officer than turned to the crowd and asked if anyone could speak German. A young man stepped forward and translated what Johann was trying to say. The officer examined Johann’s papers and found them to be in order. He told Johann that he had everything necessary to take him to California. He warned Johann that if he grabbed the employment agent again, he would hit him over the head with his baton and take him to jail. The policeman dispersed the crowd, but Johann stayed and chatted with the young man who had helped him. The young man asked him if he was a Mormon. Johann replied that he was. He then asked Johann why did he want to work on the railroad in California with “Greeks” and “Dagos” who would steal his money and cause him trouble “I’ll give you a letter of introduction to my father, who works at a Utah coal mine and earns three or four dollars a day,” he offered. The young man promised to meet Johann with the letter on the same street corner at dinner time the next day, and he excused himself by saying that he was late for work and would have to hurry off. The young man left so fast that Johann didn’t catch his name or where he worked. He tore up his train ticket to California, expecting that the young man would keep his promise. Early the next morning, Johann arrived at the appointed street corner and waited until late in the evening for the young man to appear. He carefully watched every man that passed by in order to not miss him, but the young man did not keep his word. It was getting dark, and Johann went into a nearby store called, “Shultes and Greater.” Mr. Shultes, the proprietor, understood German and Johann told him all of his troubles. Mr. Shultes asked for the name of the young man and the name of the mine to which he was going to send Johann. Johann said he didn’t have the name of the man, or the mine, but he did remember that Joseph F. Smith was the president of it. Shultes told Johann that it must be the Grass Creek Mine and he was acquainted with the superintendent of the mine. He said the superintendent could speak German because he had served there on a mission. Mr. Shultes gave Johann a letter of introduction and he took it to the superintendent of the Grass Creek Mine. Finally, Johann had secured his first job in America. He had to work in the mine in cold water that was sometimes waist deep, and for this he received three dollars a day. Johann paid for his board and sent the rest of his wages to Maria. Because of the exchange rate, the sum she received in German Franks was so large that she could not believe he could have gotten so much money honestly. Johann had to send her a statement describing his rate of pay before she would finally believe him. As springtime approached, the miners worked only two or three days a week, and Johann moved to Salt Lake City to find a job that was more steady. After a long siege of walking and job-hunting, he determined that there was little work in the city to be found, so he returned to mining, this time at the Castle Gate Mines. A strike was in progress at the mine and Johann noticed there were guards with guns around the men to protect them. It did not occur to Johann that he would be considered a “scab” if he worked at the mine, because he had seen armed guards in Germany many times, even during peacetime. Johann readily secured work and was well paid for his labor. By May he had saved enough money to send for his wife and son. They arrived in Castle Gate on June 4, 1904. Johann had rented a house by the river and the pathway leading to the house was lined on each side with blooming roses to greet the newcomers. The first time Johann came home from working at the mine, he gave Maria quite a fright. He, like the other miners, was covered with coal dust. Maria saw a strange black man approaching her door and hid herself and her son. Finding the door locked, Johann knocked on the door and called his wife by name. Finally, recognizing his voice, Maria opened the door and explained that she didn’t know miners got so black from their work. All went well with Johann and Maria and on October 1, 1905, they celebrated the arrival of a daughter whom they named “Ella.” Johann had many German friends at Castle Gate, but they all belonged to the Odd Fellows Lodge. Johann was the only Mormon among them. One of his friends had sent to Germany for his brother, and the man had just arrived. His name was “Bismark”and he didn’t know a word of English. Johann decided to take the man under his wing and make him his working partner. When Johann asked his boss to hire Bismarck, his boss agreed to hire him as Johann’s mining partner only if Bismarck would join the Odd Fellows Lodge. Bismarck immediately joined the lodge, but afterwards he stopped by Johann’s house and told him he didn’t feel good about it. Bismarck was a Catholic, and knowing Johann was a religious man, he asked Johann if he should belong to the Lodge when he was a member of the Catholic Church. Johann settled the question by telling him, “I do not believe that God loves the Catholic Church any more than he loves the lodge for they are all the same to God." Bismarck then confided to Johann what was bothering him. He said that when he was presented for membership, the lodge officials took him before a pool table that had white and black balls on it. They explained that if the white ball rolled more balls into the pockets than the black ball, he would be accepted. If the black ball pocketed more balls than the white ball, he would be rejected. When the two balls were rolled on Bismarck’s behalf, the white ball won, and he was accepted. He was then taken to a door and was shown how to knock a secret way. They also gave him secret handgrips, his lodge number and his secret lodge name. The lodge officials told Bismarck that he should never divulge these things to anyone. As another part of the ceremony, the lodge members acted out the story of the Good Samaritan. One of the men played the sick Samaritan, and the other members each came to him and gave him the wrong handgrip. Bismarck then came to him and gave him the correct handgrip. He was then required to take the man to the bar and to buy a round of drinks for everyone there, which he did. This concluded his initiation into the lodge. After relating these events to Johann, Bismarck was afraid to go home. He only had to cross the street and go a short distance more to his house, but he shook like a leaf in the wind. He was filled with fear because he had revealed to Johann the secrets that had been entrusted to him. After talking with Bismarck, Johann locked the door behind him and left the key in the door. He looked at the clock and saw that it was eleven o’clock. Johann and his family went to bed, but left the light burning in case they had to attend to the new baby. Johann couldn’t sleep that night. He was thinking about all the strange things Bismarck had revealed to him, when he was astonished to see a man standing towards the door. Johann wondered how the man could have entered the house when the door was locked and the key was inside. Then he noticed that the man’s feet were about six inches above the floor and his head was only six inches from the ceiling. He was dressed in a tuxedo and wore a white vest, shirt and black bow tie. His dark hair was parted in the center, and with his mustache he gave the appearance of fine gentleman. The night visitor began to walk towards Johann very slowly, not touching the floor as he walked, but keeping his eyes on Johann . When he got within three feet from the bed, he stopped, bent down and peered at Johann with a very cruel look. He looked straight into Johann’s eyes with such power that Johann was overcome with fear. With a scream, Johann pulled the bed covers over his head. Maria had not been asleep and she pulled the covers off Johann’s head and asked what was troubling him. Johann looked around and was again astounded to discover that the man had disappeared. However, he was conscious enough to realize that the visitor had only occupied about five minutes of time. Johann then told Maria what had happened. The next morning, Johann measured the room and determined that the night visitor must have been nine feet tall. On his way to work, he noticed that all of the German men were standing in front of Bismarck’s house. One of the men asked Johann if Bismarck had been at his house the previous evening and Johann answered “yes.” He then asked if Bismarck had revealed any of the lodge secrets to Johann. At that instant, Bismarck appeared and gave Johann the “closed mouth” sign, so Johann answered, “no.” “Well, something must have happened because of you damned Mormons,” said one of the men, “When we entered Bismarck’s house this morning we found him under the bed with the bed turned upside down on top of him. He was more dead than alive, and he was shivering like a leaf.” Bismarck didn’t go to work that day, and after Johann had put in his shift at the mine, he stopped by Bismarck’s house to ask what had happened. Bismarck ushered him inside and told him that when he had left Johann’s house the previous evening, he ran all the way home. Upon entering, he threw himself upon his bed without undressing. The bed then started to move around the room while unseen spirits began to pinch and beat him for about two hours. He was then thrown on the floor, with the bed on top of him. He stayed in that position until his friends found him in the morning. Bismarck thanked Johann for not telling the men what he had divulged about the lodge. “I would have lost my sick benefits and life insurance,” he explained. Bismarck was angry that his brother had not made it clear to him that all the doings of the lodge were to be kept secret. He had mistakenly thought that only his name and number were secret. After this incident, Bismarck grew weaker each day. He expressed his desire to go to Canada to convalesce with his sister. His friends placed him on a stretcher, carried him to a wagon, and sent him off to his sister in Canada. Some time later, Johann asked Bismarck’s brother how he was getting along. “Since you are a Mormon, I will tell you nothing,” was the brother’s answer. Johann never heard from Bismarck again. However, Johann knew the value of his religion and warned his friend about joining the Odd Fellows Lodge. “You cannot serve two masters, he would tell them. “You cannot be a member of your Church in good standing and be a lodge member too.” Johann’s spiritual gift was the ability to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost when it came to him. One day he was working in one of the mine’s rooms when the voice said, “Don’t work in this room.” The room was a “hard room” and it finally became necessary to take out the room’s pillar. Johann shuddered at this task, and finally decided to walk out of the mine and quit his job. He moved his family to Winter Quarters, and upon their arrival, Johann received word that his partner at the mine had been killed in the same room that he had just left. The incident impressed Johann with the importance of listening to the still, small voice, and he always did. At Winter Quarters, Johann worked in a mine with a man by the name of Anderson. The top of the tunnel in the mine was loose and frequently large pieces of coal would fall down. One day, while they were working in the mine, Anderson was busily filling a mine car full of coal. Suddenly, Johann grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along on a fast run. When they stopped to catch their breath, Anderson asked Johann what was the reason for the dash for safety. Johan said they had to move because the roof was going to cave in. He had only gotten the words out of his mouth, when the roof of the tunnel collapsed right where they had just been working. From then on, Anderson and Johann worked safely together, listening to the promptings of the still, small voice. Soon after Johann had moved his family to Winter Quarters, the Union Pacific mine opened in Schofield, Utah. The mine had a vein that was 36 feet in height. Johann had never worked in a high mine with a solid room so he decided to try it. The Stobbe family moved to Schofield, and on October 9, 1907, Johann and Maria were blessed with the birth of their second daughter. They named her “Anna.” After Christmas of that year, work at the mine slowed to only one or two days a week. Johann decided to move his family to Salt Lake City. They purchased a home at 3570 South 300 East that included three acres of land and some fruit trees. On December 3, 1908, they moved into their new home, and to the Stobbes the place seemed like a paradise. However, work was scarce in Salt Lake City, and Johann had to move his family back to Castle Gate so that he could meet their house payments by working at the mine. While in Castle Gate, Maria gave birth to their third child, a son whom they named “William Henry.” For a number of years, they would live on the farm in the summer months and return to the mines in the winter months to live at Stores, Utah. While working at Stores, Johann was told the still small voice to quite his job and move from there. Although Johann had good work that was not very dangerous, he decided to quit. The foreman hated to see Johann leave and offered him any job in the mine and all the overtime he wanted if he would stay. But the impression of that still small voice was so persuasive that Johann did not change his mind. The Stobbe family then moved to the Standard Mines. Johann could not get a team of horses and a wagon to move his household goods during the week, because all the teams were engaged in work at the mines. This required Johann to move on Sunday. As Johann, and the wagon containing all his possessions were passing the Church, he was stopped by church members who informed him that a large snow-slide had come down on the row of houses he had just left. The slide killed four people and ground the houses to kindling wood. The victims were buried under the snow. The next morning the headlines of the Salt Lake Tribune read: Stobbes, The Big Lucky Family Had Just Move Out When The Snow Slide Came In Standard, the family had to live in a tent during the winter months, but they thanked God that he had saved their lives and had permitted them to live. Johann believed very much in his Patriarchal blessing, which stated that he would “help gather scattered Israel. In keeping with his blessing, he loaned 1200 dollars without interest to church members in Germany to assist them to emigrate to Zion. His blessing also promised that he would fulfill a mission in his older days. The thought of serving a mission was of great interest to Johann and he began to prepare for it. He had purchased his home with a down payment of 200 dollars and a monthly payment of $20. Of the $20 monthly payment, only 15 dollars went to principal and therefore it took many years to pay off the mortgage. The immigrant German members to whom he had loaned money had also borrowed money from other sources to which they had to pay interest. They paid those loans off first, and Johann’s loans last because his were not drawing interest. On the 13th of July 1926, Johann left for a mission to Germany. His first field of labor was Berlin. Johann had a great deal of experience during his membership in the church and had a good know-ledge of the doctrines. He was possessed with enthusiasm toward missionary work. He knew that the people of the world had meager knowledge of the gospel, and he had the impression that it would be easy to covert the German people to the true gospel. However, this idea soon faded when he found the Germans he met were unwilling to listen, much less accept the message of the truth. He found them more willing to cling to the flimsy doctrines of men rather than those of God. The first time Johann went out tracting, the branch president accompanied him. They went to a block where the president had a few friends whom he had previously visited. As they knocked on the first home, a lady answered who happened to be a member of the Salvation Army. Her husband became very interested when Johann told him that, after joining the Church in Germany and living many years in America, he had now returned to Germany to preach the gospel. Johann then went on to explain the basics of the gospel to this man. After hearing what John had to say, the man said, “What you explain, I can understand, every word of it, and it is true.” Then, turning to his wife, he said, “But what you have, I cannot understand. There is nothing to it.” Johann and the branch president conversed with the couple about the gospel until it was nearly noon. Then the wife said she was tired and went into the kitchen. When she returned, she was vexed and said, “If you are the men of God you say you are, why don’t you kneel down and pray to God and ask him to leave a blessing on my house.” The missionaries accepted the challenge and knelt down. Johann was asked to offer the prayer, and he asked the Lord to bless the couple with the righteous desires of their hearts and with understanding minds. He also prayed that they might have all their sins forgiven. When he had concluded his prayer, the wife asked if she might also pray and was given the privilege. She then proceeded to pray, “I am thankful that I am not like these missionaries. I am thankful that when I joined the Salvation Army I was pure and holy and could dwell with God and Jesus on his throne.” When they arose from their knees she told her husband, “Can’t you see that we have a much better gospel than these missionaries? We don’t have to ask for forgiveness.” Then turning to the missionaries she said, “Get out of my house and never come back!” Johann and the branch president left the house completely down hearted. They felt like they had been whipped. Johann asked the branch president why he let the old woman pray. The president told Johann that in his two and a half years in the mission field he had never experienced such an incident before. The next day, Johann and his companion came to a house of a lady who listened to their message with great interest. She bade them to return when her husband and two sons would be home. She said they would be glad to see them. Johann wrote the name of the family and the address in his notebook, anticipating a fruitful return visit. They returned the following day and rapped on the woman’s door, expecting to be treated like royalty. However, when they woman opened the door, she yelled to her husband, “Here comes the prophet from America. Come and throw him down the stairs so hard that he will break his neck!” The husband and his two sons came running with their sleeves rolled up ready for a fight, but Johan and his companion where already hurrying down the stairs. When they got halfway down the stairway, Johann called out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!” One day, while Johann and his companion were tracting, they knocked on a door and a man answered. “I bring to you this message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Johann announced. “Don’t bother me with that stuff. Do you know what Jesus Christ has said?” the man replied. Johann told him that he knew a lot of things that the Lord had said, but did not know what the man was referring to. “Well,” said the man, Jesus said, ’Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs in the kingdom of heaven.’ Do you think for one minute that I want to place myself on the same level as you and be poor in spirit? I have studied a lot and learned many things in life, but I do not want any more of that Jesus. If you would like to converse on any other subject you are welcome.” With that said, he closed the door. Another unusual experience happened as Johann was out tracting one day. He came to a large house that had eight doors leading to eight apartments. He knocked on one of the doors and a lady opened it. While he was conversing with her, each of the doors and John could see people appearing in each of the doorways. A young man overhead the John’s conversation with the lady and walked over to Johann. “You have no right to preach the gospel,” he said. “You are a married man. You’re not better than the other people. You have let the snake-bite tempt you.” “If all we were all as crazy as you are in disobeying God’s command when he said, ‘Multiply and replenish the earth’ why this earth would come to an end in thirty years,” Johann answered. The next day Johann returned to the house to converse with the people. He knocked on the door of the same lady with whom he had previously conversed. However, this time, when she opened the door, she spit in Johann’s face and accused him of being rude to her preacher. One day, Johann was sent to the hospital to administer to a sick friend who was investigating the church. In the administration, Johann promised her that she would become well and able to attend the church meeting. However, instead of getting well, the lady died. Johann was badly shaken by the experience and he began to feel he was not the right man to be serving a mission. He fell upon his knees in prayer. He reminded the Lord that he had not called himself on this mission, and if he was not the right man to be on this mission, then he had better go home. Then the still small voice spoke to him saying, “If you will just preach the gospel and quit telling the people whom you are and from whence you came, you will be successful.” The next day, Johann went to a house that had two doors. He knocked on one of them and a very intelligent woman opened the door. During his conversation with her, Johann learned that she was better versed in the Bible than he was. She countered each of Johann’s Bible quotations with one of her own. Johann realized that he wasn’t getting anywhere with her, so he stepped over to the other door. “Don’t knock on that door,” said the lady. “My apostle, Juda, lives there.” Johann told her that her neighbor had to hear the message of the restored gospel too. The Juda Apostle opened his door and said that he overheard what Johan had told his neighbor. He complimented Johann by saying there are good people among the Mormons. “However,” he said, “why do you misinterpret the Bible?” He pointed out that the Savior first ordained apostles and then prophets. “In your church, you ordain prophets first and then apostles. Why do you do that?” he asked. Johann told the man, “As long as God has had people on the earth, he has had prophets. When Jesus was here on the earth, he was the prophet. He ordained 12 apostles. After Christ was crucified, James and John became the first presidency of the church and Peter became the prophet. Under them served the apostles and Peter sent them unto all the world to preach the gospel. Remember, the Lord asked Peter, ‘Peter do you love me? Feed my lambs.’ With Peter as the head of the church, after the Savior was taken way, the apostles fed the sheep and the lambs.” Then Johann asked the man, “Your church just has apostles, why don’t you have prophets to stand at the head of your church? Why don’t you believe the Bible?” The Juda Apostle then slammed his door, but Johann continued talking. “Someday,” he called out, “ you will see and believe the true gospel.” With that, the lady next door went in and slammed her door, leaving Johann alone, but he felt that he had achieved a victory for his efforts. On another occasion, Johann had an encounter with a Seventh Day Adventist preacher. The preacher tried to convince Johann that Saturday not Sunday was the true Sabbath. Johann asked the preacher, “If you still believe in the old Law of Moses, why don’t you rest on the seventh year, also? After more banter with John, the preacher asked if the Mormons thought the world was coming to an end soon, and if so, how would the New Jerusalem come down from heaven. “I’ll answer that question by asking you one,” began John. “If the New Jerusalem comes, where will it come? “In old Jerusalem,” answered the preacher. “What do you mean?” Johann questioned. “One building on top of another and the streets hanging up in the air? You cannot hang a thing in the air. All things must have a firm foundation. You do not understand the spiritual side of the New Jerusalem, its meaning or its works. The New Jerusalem will be the hosts of heaven coming to earth where Adam lived, over in America.” While Johann was serving in Berlin, the members of the Josephites , an apostate church that splintered off from the Mormons, were not going house to house to seek new converts. Instead, they would go to the weak members of the Mormon Church and try to win them over to their beliefs. One day, John happened to meet the leader of the Josephite Church through some of the Mormon members. “Let us not argue, but let us talk intelligently,” Johann began. “Do you believe in the revelations contained in the Doctrine and Covenants?” The Josephite leader said he believed the first part of the book, but not the last part. Then Johann asked, “Do you believe that Elijah the prophet appeared in the Kirtland?” The man answered, “Yes.” “And do you have any temples?” Johann again asked. “We’ll soon have a temple,” answered the man. “When?” asked Johann. “During the millennium,” was the man’s answer. “That will be too late,” said Johann. “The devil will be tied up and Jesus will not let you build a temple behind his back. Jesus will come to his temple and if you don’t have one, Jesus will have to postpone his coming and wait for you to build one.” The Josephite leader then countered, “Everything Elijah brought was burned because your temple was not right!” Johann asked, “If you house catches fire, and you run out of it nude, is your belief in your church burned up?” “No,” said the Josephite, “and I’ll hold fast to that.” “And so we hold fast to the things that Elijah gave to us and do what he commanded us. Our church is the only true church upon the earth,” Johann explained. The Mormons who were present at the meeting of the two men spread the news among all the members who were going to the Josephite Church. It proved to be the cause of all of them returning to the Mormon fold. Johann was promised in his patriarchal blessing that he would be a peacemaker. A demonstration of that gift became visible in an incident that happened to him while he was serving in Berlin. In that city lived a family by the name of “Domann.” Mr. Domann was a tailor by vocation. He was also a veteran who served in the German Army during the First World War. While he was in the army, his wife was converted and joined the LDS Church. When he returned home from the war, he became very angry with his wife for joining the “Mormon church” and forbade her from going to any church meetings. All relationship between the family and the church was stopped. Johann studied the situation very carefully and decided to pay at visit to Mr. Domann as a business trip and not in anyway as a missionary. When he arrived at the Domann home, he was met at the door by Domann’s wife. She was so surprised to see a Mormon missionary, after her husband had forbidden them to enter house, that she didn’t know what to do. Johann asked to see the proprietor and he was escorted to the tailor’s bench. Johann inquired as to how the man’s business was doing and tried to engage him in small talk on related subjects. Domann explained that after the war business was bad but now it was beginning to pick up. Johann asked the man if he had served in the war, and Domann answered served in the war from the start to the end. He then related to Johann the following incident: One Sunday, when Domann’s company was on a farm by a hill, all the soldiers were resting except him. Being a tailor, he had to sew all the officer’s clothes. He thought, “Why should I work while all the rest of the soldiers are resting?” So he decided to take a walk down the road to get a little country air. Suddenly, he heard the roar of English cannons, and he ran as fast as he could back to camp. When he g6t back to camp, he didn’t recognize any of the soldiers as his comrades. He was told that they were sent to the front and had all been killed. The soldiers who were now at the camp were all replacements. At this point, Mrs. Domann became very nervous over Johann’s presence. She was worried that her husband would discover that who Johann was, so she called Johann into another room and told him that if her husband found out who he was, he would throw him out. She disclosed that she and her husband had just had a big quarrel about the church just 30 minutes before Johann arrived. As a result, her husband was in an angry mood. Mrs. Domann asked Johann if she should get a divorce, because a young missionary had told her that she should be sealed to another man—a good man. Johann knew that Domann was listening to their conversation, because only a door separated them from him. “Sister,” Johann began, “You have a bad idea in your head. You have a good husband. Do as God commanded Eve, let your husband be the boss in your home. If your husband doesn’t want to learn about the gospel, then you should not talk about it.” Johann promised her that if she would do this, he would baptize her husband before he left Berlin. “God did not give him the inspiration to leave his sewing and go for a walk in the field for nothing. God had other plans for him,” Johann counseled. Johann then said his goodbyes and left the house. Mrs. Domann followed Johann’s advise and did not mention the church. She did everything she could to please him. After a couple of weeks, Domann asked his wife if “that old missionary” had visited her. “I know you don’t like to hear the gospel,” she answered. “Well, I like him,” said Domann. “That old fellow talked pretty good sense. He can come again.” They invited Johann to have dinner with them. As they sat down together, Johann took the Bible and began to explain the gospel to them. Afterwards, Mrs. Domann said they had enjoyed the meeting very much. She told Johann that if the missionaries had made the Gospel as clear to her husband as it is now, when he returned from the war he would never have spoken against the church as he did. Domann then told Johann that the next time he came to visit, he should bring his companion and have dinner with them. In the following weeks, Johann and his companion had many dinners at the Domann home. Mr. Domann began to attend the church meetings with his wife. As time went on, Johann received notice that he was to be transferred to Erfurt, so he took the opportunity to visit the Domann home once more to say goodbye. While he was conversing with them, Mr. Domann said to his wife, “I told you that some reason would arise for the use of that white cloth that I purchased some time ago. You see I bought it to make me a suit to be baptized in.” Then, turning to Johann, he said, “I heard you promise my wife one day that you would baptize me into the church before you left Berlin. Now I want you to keep that promise and not only baptize myself, but also my son whom I have held back for four years.” Johann replied that he would only be too happy to oblige them. Johann went down into the waters of baptism and baptized Mr. Domann and his son, together with three other people who requested that Johann baptize them. Johann felt very blessed that he had the privilege of seeing five people establish their citizenship in the Kingdom of God. He felt assured that from then on, peace, happiness, and contented souls reined in the Domann household as members of the Church of Jesus Christ . Before Johann left Berlin, he had another . While he was serving, there he met a man, his wife, and their daughter with the surname of “Pasewald” who were members of the church. However, Mr. Pasewald liked to drink and would occasionally get drunk. Because of his drinking, his wife left him, but later had second thoughts about it and desired to return to him. However, Mr. Pasewald would not take her back, went off, and married a young girl. This caused the ex-wife and daughter a great deal of anguish. They went to the missionaries and related to them the whole affair. As a result, Mr. Pasewald was excommunicated. Pasewald’s daughter had a sweetheart in New York City who was going to send her money so that she could emigrate to America. He was a butcher by trade and had the last name of “Weimer.” However, because the daughter was not of age, it was necessary for her to get a certificate of consent to marry signed by her father. When she approached her father for the permit, he not only refused to give it to her, but he gave her a severe beating which left her bruised black and blue. Johann had already received his passport to travel to Erfurt when Mr. Pasewald’s daughter came to him and told him of her troubles. She asked for Johann’s help in securing her father’s permission to marry, and he readily agreed to help. Johan went to Mr. Pasewald and told he that he had only one daughter and she now had a chance to go to a better country and marry a nice man. He asked Pasewald why would we want to stand in her way and spoil her chances for a new life. Johann pointed out to Pasewald that when his daughter got to America she would send for her mother, and then he would live in peace with his new young wife. Mr. Pasewald agreed that if his daughter would come to him, he would sign her permission papers. When the Johann and the daughter arrived at the steps of Mr. Pasewald’s home, she began to shiver with fright. “He’s going to beat me up again,” she cried. Johann promised her in the name of the Lord that her father would not hit her. When they entered the home, they found Mr. Pasewald drunk. He began asking his daughter questions about his ex-wife. She told her father that the only reason for her visit was to get his signature on the permission papers. Mr. Pasewald angrily replied that she was still his daughter and he demanded to know what kind of man she intended to marry. He asked her if she had any letters that would identify him as having good character. She told him that she had such letters and would let him read them if he would not show them to his new wife. When she handed him the letters, Mr. Pasewald took them and promptly handed them over to his new wife without bothering to read them. The daughter burst out crying and then the new wife got into the fray. She got into a heated quarrel with the daughter and became violent. When she attempted to strike Pasewald’s daughter, her arm was suddenly stopped to some unseen power. Upon seeing this, Mr. Pasewald became very angry and he attempted to strike his daughter. He was stopped by the same power that rendered him powerless to strike her. Realizing what had taken place, the daughter shouted, “This is a testimony to me that a servant of the Lord has promised that I should not be hit, and I see now that neither you father, or your old sow can strike me!” Johann then said to the daughter, “Today we can’t get the papers signed, so let us go home.” As they left the house and started down the street, they were closely followed by Mr. Pasewald and his new wife. Pasewald again attempted to strike his daughter, but she quickly stepped behind Johann and the blow landed on Johann’s cheek. He immediately turned to face Mr. Pasewald and dared him to strike him on his other cheek. Pasewald, in his drunken stupor apologized to Johann for his mistake. Johann took the daughter by the arm and they went on their way. As they parted, Johann told the daughter that she should immediately go home, get on her knees, and tell the Lord about the whole situation as though He did not know what happened. He told her to beg for the Lord’s help, and that if she did, she would get the necessary papers signed without further difficulty. The following Sunday, Mr. Pasewald came to the LDS meeting and inquired about “the old missionary.” He said he wanted to ask for Johann’s forgiveness and tell him that the whole incident was caused by his drunkenness. He said he was very sorry for what had happened. He then went over to his daughter and handed her the permission papers that were signed in good order. He angrily told her to take them and “beat it.” When Johann was returning home from his mission and landed in New York, Mr. Pasewald’s daughter was there to meet him. She ran up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and expressed great joy for the things Johann had done for her. She graciously thanked him and bade him well on his journey home. The Pasewald incident, together with successes, caused Johann’s District President to write a letter to the Mission President asking permission for Elder Stobbe to remain in Berlin because he was accomplishing so much good. The District President received a short and pointed replay, ‘No, we need Elder Stobbe in Erfurt to wipe away the trouble there and establish peace.” When Johann arrived in Erfurt, he asked the missionary, who was serving as the Branch President, just what was the trouble the Mission President had mentioned in his reply. The missionary told Johann that the members in the branch were not paying tithing. If that wasn’t bad enough, he said the building where the members had been meeting in North Erfurt had a bad nickname and they did not like it. The missionary had rented another meeting hall in town, but the members apparently were unaware and were going to the previous place. Because the members had stopped paying tithing, there was no funds available to pay the rent on the new hall. Johann soon found out that the members had taken a dislike to the Branch President because he had not taken steps to correct the tithing and meeting hall situation. Johann also learned that the Relief Society sisters had fasted and prayed for a new Branch President. Their prayers were soon answered and the Branch President/missionary was transferred to Majeburg where there was only one family that belonged to the Church. Another missionary was set apart to be the new Branch President, but he was very sick and was only well enough to attend the meetings. He had only five months left to serve on his mission, and so all of the missionary work fell upon Johann. The Relief Society President invited Johann to attend one of their meetings and he accepted the invitation. During the meeting, he listened with interest and was then asked to speak. He began by complimenting the sisters for their efforts in furthering the gospel. He then informed them that the missionary who had been their Branch President was now transferred to Majeburg, had been duly chastised for his negligence in his duties. However, Johann said, “I know that this missionary is in need of help.” He suggested that instead of inviting Johann over to their homes to eat two or three meals a day, they should send that money to this missionary, and Johann would buy his meals at a restaurant. The Relief Society Sisters told Johann that if he went to the restaurants to eat, they would consider it an insult. They voted to send amply means to help the needy missionary. As Johann labored in the Branch, the missionary work began to progress to the point that 14 new souls had applied for baptism. The new Branch President had not had the privilege of baptizing anyone during his mission and he asked Johann if he would mind if he baptized half of the new converts. Johann said he wouldn’t mind at all. Five months after this missionary returned home, Johann received word that he had died. The time arrived when Johann’s work in the Erfurt Branch was completed, and he was transferred to Koenigsberg, his hometown. Johann arrived with the hope of converting his relatives. However, his hopes were soon dashed. He related, “When I was over to my brother and sister’s houses, I told them what our mother told me just before she died. They all had a good laugh and remarked about my peculiar credence in such a thing.” Johann proceeded to tell them of his many experiences and he explained the gospel to them. He bore solemn testimony of its divinity and pleaded with them to listen. However, they ignored his message. Johann spent nine months working in the Koenigsberg branch and visited his brothers and sisters often, but he could not convert any of them. The only relative that would listen was his sister’s oldest son and his wife. They came to the Branch meetings and said they were going to test the Church. One day Johann’s sister had a large wedding to attend, and her son went along with her. The wedding guests were drinking a lot of beer and whiskey and they offered some to the son. He refused it, saying that Johann had shown him a passage in the Bible where the Apostle Paul had advised against drinking wine or strong drinks. Johann’s sister said, that the Apostle Paul was only joking when he warned against strong drink and that only Johann gave it any credence. His mother’s comments were joined by light-minded jeers from the other guests at the wedding. The son soon broke down and began to drink with the rest of the wedding party. He soon stopped going to the branch meetings, and when Johann asked him why, he told him what his mother had said. He made the excuse to Johann that he had to work hard and that he liked to have a few drinks after work. He said it was impossible to live the standards of the Church and he began to avoid being around the Mormons. The lack of success with his relatives caused Johann to recall the words of his dying mother, “They do not belong to that beautiful place.” While serving in Koenigsberg, Johann had a miraculous experience with a family with the surname of “Holt.” Mrs. Holt and her daughter joined the church while her husband was in the Army during World War I. When he returned from the war, Mr. Holt was very much opposed to his wife and daughter’s membership in the church and forbade them to allow the home teachers and missionaries to enter his home. However, that did not deter Johann, and he made it a point to visit him. Somehow, he got himself invited inside, and told Mr. Holt that Koenigsberg was his native home. He went on to say that he joined the LDS Church in Koenigsberg, and later made his home in America. He said he had now returned as a missionary for the church. This interested Mr. Holt and he asked Johann many questions about America and the Mormons. Johan then spent the evening explaining the Gospel to him. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Holt promised to come the branch meetings and investigate the teachings of the church. Mr. Holt was a butcher by trade and each Sunday morning he would go out and buy the pork for his shop before coming to meeting. One Sunday morning, he was in a hurry and was riding his motorcycle unusually fast. As he was crossing some railroad tracks, his wheel struck a switch rail, and he was thrown off his motorcycle. When he landed, he broke his shoulder and fractured his skull to the point that some of his brain matter was leaking out. He was taken to the hospital unconscious, and the hospital staff found his pocket book that contained his identification. The doctors notified Mrs. Holt of the accident and told her that it would be better that her husband should die than live, because he was brain damaged and would never be “normal” again. However, Mrs.Holt had faith that if she could get the Mormon Elders to administer to him he would get well. She arrived at the missionary headquarters as the Elders were holding a missionary council meeting. She requested the Elders administer to her husband and asked that Elder Stobbe perform the administration. The missionaries told her that any of the missionaries could administer to her husband, because they all held the same priesthood. Mrs. Holt said she realized that, but she still wanted Elder Stobbe to be sent to the hospital. Johann and a young new Elder were dispatched to the hospital. They found brother Holt lying unconscious in a very large ward that contained many patients. Remembering a previous experience when he had promised a lady she would get well and she had died, Johann stood by brother Holt’s bed for a long time offering up a silent prayer. In his prayer, he asked the Lord what he should say. The answer came in a still small voice, “Promise him health.” The many other patients in the room were curious and watched with rapt attention as Johann took a bottle of consecrated oil and handed to his junior companion. He asked the Elder to anoint brother Holt and he did. Then Johann sealed the anointing, and in doing so, he promised brother Holt that he would return to his normal health and strength. Mrs. Holt and her daughter visited brother Holt in the hospital often, but he remained unconscious for some time. The doctors sent for an ear specialist who confirmed the diagnosis for the other doctors and further added that Holt was deaf and could not hear the shot of a cannon. The doctors had given up and waited for brother Holt to die. Suddenly, he regained conscious and he recognized his daughter and then his wife. He asked them where he was, and they told him he was in the hospital after suffering a terrible accident. When the doctors attempted to set the broken bones in brother Holt’s shoulder, he pushed them away with his “bad” arm and told them go on their way. He said his arm and shoulder were now strong again and he was ready to go home to his family. The doctors were amazed with brother Holt’s miraculous improvement and asked to what could it be attributed. They were informed that the Mormon Elders had blessed him with health and strength and made him a promise that he would get well. Brother Holt was released from the hospital, and upon arriving home, he took a chair and held it at arms length high above his head to show that his arm and shoulder were well in every way;. Then he told his family to be quiet for a moment and pronounced that he could hear the ticking of their clock. When Johann got word that he was going to be transferred again, he paid the Holt family a visit to say his goodbyes. Brother Holt thanked Johann for his help and his blessing. However, Johann said not he but God had given him the blessing. “I am a man like other men, so thank God and not me. Then Johann reminded them of an incident in the New Testament where Christ had cleansed 1epers and only one had came back to express his gratitude. The other nine went on their way. “Be like the one that remembers the blessing and be thankful,” he said. A few months later, Johann met Mrs. Holt and her daughter at a mission conference. Johann asked how Mr. Holt was getting along. Mrs. Holt’s eyes filled with tears as she told Johann that brother Holt had taken to drink again and was worse now than he was before. At the same mission conference, the missionaries reported that it was a waste of time to perform missionary work in Danzig. The missionaries who had served there had not had any baptisms for several years, and they said there was trouble among the members. They complained that living in Danzig was expensive and their resources and efforts there were proving to be futile;. President Valentine, the mission president, listened to the report of the Danzig missionaries and then dispatched Johann to the Danzig Branch without a companion. When he arrived, he found plenty of trouble among the branch members. It all centered around a sailor by the name of “Shultske” from Mimel. He served on a ship that often docked at Danzig, because it did a lot of business there. While the ship was in port, Mr. Shultske went to the LDS branch meetings. He was even called to serve a church mission. However, there were two old maids in the branch who had their eyes on him and desired to be his wife. While brother Shultske was serving his mission, one of the love smitten sisters sent some of her savings to help support him. This aroused great jealousy in the other sister who happened to be a secretary. The secretary solicited the help of her two brothers, and they would verbally abuse her rival sister whenever she came to church.. The branch priesthood holders asked Johann to cut off from the church the sister who was contributing to the missionary. Johann said, “I would like to study this case further before I take any action.” Upon investigating the matter, Johann discovered that the secretary had become jealous because her rival was sending money to brother Shultske, something she was unable to do. She had spread a lot of false information about her rival to such extent that she had gained the support of the entire branch membership. At the next priesthood meeting, Johann was asked for his decision, but not before, he was told that if he didn’t cut the secretary’s rival off from the church, they would withdraw their support from him. Johann calmly announced his decision using the words of the Savior, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. The sister you desire to be cut off from the church is innocent of any wrongdoing. She is a good sister and the fault is with the secretary. Let her repent.” Half of the members walked out of the branch meeting in a huff. Soon after, many new converts joined the church and the Danzig branch grew. In the four months that Johann served in Danzig, he baptized eight converts and six others had requested baptism. However, Johann left that task for the Elders who would follow him. When he left Danzig, peace and happiness reigned among the saints. Johann returned to his home in Salt Lake City with an honorable release and went on to render great service among the saints in the Miller Ward. In July of 1940, Johann passed away in a hospital after undergoing a major operation. True to his gift to anticipate future events, he had previously made arrangements for his funeral, should the Lord take him home. ### Transcribed by Ella Stobbe. Grammar corrected and text slight amended for clarity by Joseph Stobbe, a grandson, in December of 1989 with further editing by William Cupit, another grandson, in 2003. In as much as Johann and his wife and son, Otto, were born in East Prussia, they obtained a certificate of citizenship which stated the following: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN This is to certify that John Henry Stobbe was admitted as a citizen of the United States of America on the 25th day of November 1910, in the Third District Court of Salt Lake City, Utah. We do further certify that Ludwig Henry Otto Stobbe, son of said John Henry Stobbe, born January 25th, 1896, at Koenigsberg, Germany, automatically became a citizen of the United States at the time his father was admitted to citizenship. J.E. Clark, clerk of the Third Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County, State of Utah. Signed by J.B. Lewis, Deputy Clerk. _____________________________________________________________________________________ It is also interesting to note that a certificate was issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Swains certifying that John Henry Stobbe was ordained a High Priest by Richard S. Horne, on the 13th day of July, 1919. Thomas J. Yates, president of the High Priests’ Quorum. _____________________________________________________________________________________ The following is Johann’s patriarchal blessing: Salt Lake City, Utah June 29, 1907 A blessing given by John Smith, Patriarch, upon the head of John Henry Stobbe, son of Gottfried and Krautien Stobbe, born in Granours-storp Labiau, East Prussia, Germany, September 1, 1869. Brother John Henry Stobbe, thou art of the House of Israel and have yielded obedience to the gospel with an honest heart. Thou hast forsaken home and kindred for the sake of salvation, therefore I say unto thee, remember thy covenants and in thy reflections call to mind the teachings of thy parents and thy memory shall receive strength. For by reflection thou shall gain knowledge from the experience of the past and in this wise thou shalt look forward to the future with a prayerful heart and an inquiring mind and thereby realize that thou has yet much to do. For thou art chosen by the Father to labor in his vineyard, and it will be thy lot to teach and expound the scriptures and to have care among thy associates, for thou art so chosen to be a savior among they kindred. Therefore, strive to inform thy mind and to learn thy duty and thy pathway shall be made clear and thou shalt be prospered in thy labors, spiritual and temporal. Thou art of the lineage of Ephraim which is the lineage of thy forefathers, therefore remember that there are many of thy progenitors who were honest in heart and will gladly unite with thee in Kingdom of our Father when convinced of the truth and thou art a legal heir to this privilege. Therefore, let thy faith fail thee not and thy days and years shall be prolonged until thou art satisfied and thy mission finished, and by listening to the voice of prudence thou shalt gather of this world’s goods all which shall be necessary. Therefore, look always upon the bright side and be cheerful in thy deportment and it shall be well with thee, and thy name shall go forth among the people in honorable remembrance, for the Lord has heard thy petitions, accepted thine offerings, and thy reward shall be according to merit. This blessing I seal upon thee in the name of Jesus Christ, and seal thee up to eternal life to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection. Even so, Amen.