his faith did not fail

To find happiness and joy, no matter what comes,

we must make our stand unequivocally with the Lord.

 

"Thomas Giles, a Welsh convert who joined the Church in 1844,

. . . suffered much in his lifetime. .

He was a miner, and while he was digging coal in the mine,

a large piece of coal hit him on the head and inflicted a wound nine inches long.

The doctor who examined him said the injured man

would not live longer than 24 hours.

But then the elders came and administered to him.

He was promised that he would get well, and that 'even if he would never see again,

he would live to do much good in the Church.'

Brother Giles did indeed live but was blind the rest of his life.

Within a month of his injury 'he was out traveling through

the country attending to his ecclesiastical duties.'

"In 1856 Brother Giles and his family immigrated to Utah,

but before he left his homeland,

the Welsh Saints presented him with a harp, which he learned to play skillfully.

At Council Bluffs he joined a handcart company and headed west. 'Though blind he

pulled a handcart from Council Bluffs to Salt Lake City.' While crossing the plains his

 wife and two children died. 'His sorrow was great and his heart almost broken, but

 his faith did not fail him. In the midst of his grief he said as did one of old,

"The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord"

When Brother Giles arrived in Salt Lake City, President Brigham Young,

who had heard his story, loaned Brother Giles a valuable harp until his own arrived

from Wales. Brother Giles 'traveled from settlement to settlement in Utah, . . .

 gladdening the hearts of the people with his sweet music'

James E. Faust