The Boundless Joy of Serving Christ

  
The theme at the top of my post today comes from the second verse of a hymn we Mormons sing in our services called “Go Forth with Faith” (#263 Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985)

                                  Go forth to serve and do your best
                                  With no thought of reward;
                                  Then you shall know the boundless joy
                                  Of serving Christ the Lord.

I think that the text is the perfect way to introduce my paternal grandfather, Thomas Griffin.

 

Last Friday (March 1) was the 157th anniversary of his birth in Naunton, Beauchamp, Worcestershire, England in 1856.  Ten years later, his family sailed for America on the SS John Bright.  Their first home in Clarkston, Utah was a log house without doors, windows, or floors.

In February 1883, at the age of twenty-seven, my grandfather, along with Charles Shumway and Thomas Godfrey, were the first members to be called as missionaries from Clarkston.  All three were married men with families.  Accepting a call to labor as a missionary in the Tennessee Mission meant my grandfather had to leave his wife Martha Ann and their two small children: Henry, not quite five years old and Martha Melissa, their eighteen-month old daughter.

Shortly before the missionaries left Clarkston, a farewell party was held in their honor.  As my grandfather walked home through the town square from the old rock meeting house where the social was held, the moon was shining brightly.  In his words:  “The rays caught something on the ground that glittered and I picked it up.  It was a five dollar gold piece.  Something told me to take it to Brother Shumway as he needed it and that when I was in need I would get it back.  I took the money to Charley who needed that amount and didn't know where he was going to get it.”

Sunday, February 26, 1883,  all three missionaries were set apart in Salt Lake City. The next morning, a total of nineteen elders left together for Tennessee by train.  They nearly had ~ in my grandfather’s words, “a sad train accident while going down to Tennessee.  A switch was left open for our destruction, done as we supposed by some mobocrats.  The train kept the main track, which was a miracle, and we were saved but very badly jarred up." They went directly to Chattanooga where my grandfather received his appointment to labor in East Tennessee.

He baptized four persons and assisted in baptizing others.  He met “with much opposition from the pulpit, but no mob violence,” and was treated “as a general thing very kindly.”  The prospects in East Tennessee were “in nowise flattering”  but were more favorable than in other parts of the State where two elders were assassinated.

One day as he was tracting in Tennessee, walking down a dusty road, his shoes almost worn out, and no money in his pockets to buy a new pair, he noticed a shiny object lying in the road.  When he picked it up, it was a five dollar gold piece. “There was my five-dollar gold piece,” he would repeat as she shared this story with his family.  “My five-dollar gold piece come back to me." 

Thomas was released on Wednesday, March 27, 1884 and arrived in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 31.  On April 1, 1884, it was reported on page three of the Evening News, Salt Lake City  that he “much enjoyed his mission.”

He returned home to Clarkston on the seventh of April 7.  The ground was covered with snow so deep that he walked over the top of his fence to be reunited with his family. .


                                                                 *   *    *

In 1997, a group of Thomas Griffin’s descendants published a history about him entitled The Thomas Griffin Family. Included in the book are the names of  Thomas Griffin descendants who accepted a call to serve as missionaries, the names of the mission where they served, and the dates they served.   As a servant willing to accept a mission call, Thomas Griffin led the way; his posterity have followed in his footsteps.  It didn’t happen overnight.  In the beginning, the numbers who served were few and far between.  Decade by decade, the numbers have increased.

1900-1909     In 1906, at the age of 19, Thomas’ son Albert William Griffin was called to serve a mission to England.  He said goodbye to his family and left for Salt Lake City where he was set apart as a missionary by Heber J. Grant.  His ticket had already been purchased when it was discovered during a physical examination that he had a weak heart and he was  released from the calling.  To his credit, Albert was willing; luck was not on his side.

1910-1010    Thomas’ son, Raymond Maughan Griffin left Salt Lake in January 1917 to serve in the Western States.  He was on his mission during World War I and said it was hard to teach the gospel during the war. Many people told him that he should be in the Army instead of the mission field.

1920-1929     David Ronald Clark was the first grandson to serve a mission.  He served in Northern California from 1928-1930.

1930-1939    Ralph J. Griffin was the second grandson to receive a call.  In 1938, he was scheduled to go to England, but because of the war, was sent instead to the Eastern States Mission.

1940-1949     Seven grandchildren served as missionaries during this decade:

                      Harold J. Griffin                  Spanish-American       1940-1943
                      Edwin Maughan Jardine     Texas Louisiana            1941-1943 
                      Julia Griffin Woolley           Spanish-American       1942-1944.
                      Earl H. Griffin                      New England States    1942-1944
                      Richard Earl Griffin             Northern California     1946-1948.  
                      Dewey Lynn Griffin             California                    1948-1950       
                      James A. Crookston             Argentina                     1948-1950

1950-1959    9 missionaries           
1960-1969    24 missionaries       
1970-1979    63 missionaries       
1980-1989    70 missionaries       
1990-1997    88 missionaries       

 As of the date the book was published, (1997) the total number of  missionaries who could trace their lineage directly to Thomas Griffin and had served a mission came to a total of  267 individuals. 

Those of us who helped compile the history are no longer in touch with each other; consequently, no current figures as to how many descendants have served are available.  But today, twenty-six years later, family members continue to accept mission calls to serve throughout the world.  Their faith and obedience  contribute to the boundless joy that Thomas Griffin deserves for the admirable example he set.