His Name Shall be Had in Sacred Remembrance

"Oliver Granger is not remembered among the names of the early leaders of the Church. He lived out his life quietly but faithfully. But in heavenly terms, Oliver Granter stands shoulder to shoulder with all of the great and noble ones."

By Elder James J. Hamula

First Counselor, Pacific Area Presidency

March 2011 Message

Not long ago I interviewed a Church member who was applying for Church employment. The last step in this good man's application process was a General Authority interview. Because I was in my office in Auckland and he was in one of the Church's service centers in the Pacific, our interview was conducted by video conference.

At the outset I asked him to introduce himself to me. He told me he was a convert to the Church, having been converted by his returned missionary wife while they both pursued tertiary education. He and his wife had been sealed in the temple and had several young children. They now lived on a remote island in the Pacific where there are no other members of the Church. He was a teacher; she, a trained teacher too, was a full-time homemaker.

When I asked this good man how he had gotten to our service center, he said that he had taken an 8-hour boat ride, and would return the same way when our interview was completed. When I asked whether he had a temple recommend and was worthy of it, he humbly affirmed that both he and his wife had recommends and they both were worthy of them. When I asked how he and his family wife were able to live the gospel in their remote and isolated circumstances, I received a lesson in personal Christian discipleship. He and his wife gather their children every day to pray and read the scriptures. Every Monday night they have a family home evening. Every Sunday they hold a family worship service and honor the Sabbath. Every month they send their tithes and offerings to the Church. And routinely they give quiet acts of service for their fellow islanders, leading all on their island to know them as Church members. They have been living in this manner for more than 10 years.

My interview with this good Church member moved me deeply then -- and does every time I think of it. And I think of it often as I move among the faithful Latter-day Saints of the Pacific. Everywhere I go -- large continents or remote islands, big cities or small villages -- I find similar Church members. I find men and women, boys and girls, who are living the gospel the best they can, under the circumstances they are in. And I find men and women, boys and girls, who are known of the Lord and are being blessed by Him, no matter their location or status. As Peter said to Cornelius, the Roman centurion: "... Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him" (Acts 10:34-35).

In 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation regarding a little known Latter-day Saint. "I remember my servant Oliver Granger; behold, verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord" (D&C 117:12). What led to his name being held in sacred remembrance? Oliver Granger was a very ordinary man. He was mostly blind having "lost his sight by cold and exposure" (History of the Church, 4:408). He, along with many other Latter-day Saints of his day, faced mob persecution and deprivation of property. He died at the age of 47, leaving behind his wife and several children.

Before he departed life, however, Oliver exhibited quiet faith in the Lord and His cause. During the days of the Saints being driven from Kirtland, Ohio, Oliver was asked to stay behind among the enemies of the Church to sell the Church's properties for what little he could. To Oliver the Lord said, "Let him contend earnestly for the redemption of the [properties of the] First Presidency of my Church, saith the Lord; and when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord" (D&C 117:13). Such an assignment was very difficult, and did not yield much success, at least as measured in worldly terms. Indeed, the Lord acknowledged that he would "fall." But Oliver's success was not measured by the Lord by what he did as by what he was. His sacrifice for the Lord was more sacred than his gains. The First Presidency described him as "a man of the most strict integrity and moral virtue; and in fine, to be a man of God" (History of the Church, 3:350).

Oliver Granger is not remembered among the names of the early leaders of the Church. He lived out his life quietly but faithfully. But in heavenly terms, Oliver Granter stands shoulder to shoulder with all of the great and noble ones. As the Lord said, "Let no man despise my servant Oliver Granger, but let the blessings ... be on him forever and ever" (D&C 117:15). Such can be said too of the many Latter-day Saints in the Pacific, and throughout the world, who are living the gospel as best they can, under the circumstances as they have them, with no fanfare or attention. All "who overcome by faith" shall receive celestial glory and eternal life (D&C 76:53).