911. The Prophet’s Scriptures: Insights from Harold B. Lee’s Missionary Bible By Reid N. Moon · September 7, 2017, in Meridian Magazine
My husband Wayne would love this story! He loved to tell the story of when he was a teenager doing "ward teaching" in his home ward at 3384 So. 200 West in Salt Lake City. A new young couple moved into the ward, and they went there to visit them. As they opened the door, they were introduced to the wife's father, Elder Harold B. Lee. They were about to excuse themselves and slip out when Elder Lee said "You can't go yet. You haven't given us the message!" Wayne's dad turned to Wayne and said "Wayne, give them the lesson!" , which Wayne did! That would have been in about 1947 or 1948.
The Prophet’s Scriptures: Insights from Harold B. Lee’s Missionary Bible
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Did you know that when Harold B. Lee was a missionary he marked 157 verses in the Book of Job? Or, that while he was a missionary, he performed three marriages? Neither did I, that is, until I was able to spend several hours going through his missionary Bible.
A few months ago I had the privilege of acquiring “The Harold B. Lee Library”. No, not the one at Brigham Young University, rather the “personal” library of Harold B. Lee. This “library” contained several scriptures that belonged to the prophet, including his missionary Bible. These scriptures and books were acquired from his descendants with the understanding that I would share their inspiring story. This article is in partial fulfillment of that promise.
Harold Bingham Lee was born in 1899 in Clifton, Idaho. Twenty years later he was called on a mission to the Western States Mission, which was headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Before he left on his mission, he was given a copy of the Holy Bible by a group of his friends from the “Y. L. & Y. M. M. I. A.” in Clifton, Idaho. This group of seventeen “Young Ladies and Young Men of the Mutual Improvement Association” gave “Harold Lee” a Bible to take with him on his mission. All seventeen of his friends signed their names in the back of the book.
As you open the cover of his well-worn black leather Bible, which was printed in 1917, and included a “Ready References” section which was designed especially for missionaries, you immediately see the inscription which reads, “Remembrances of the Clifton Y. L. & Y. M. M. I. A. Nov. 7, 1920 to Harold Lee”. Then, as you leaf through the next 1,347 pages, you will see where a young Elder Harold B. Lee, marked a total of 2,643 scriptures!
Rather than just mention that he marked 2,643 verses, I think you will find it quite interesting to see not just how many, but also in which books he marked those scriptures. Here is the breakdown:
OLD TESTAMENT – 1030 verses
- Genesis – 94
- Exodus – 103
- Leviticus – 22
- Numbers – 17
- Deuteronomy – 66
- Joshua – 0
- Judges – 2
- Ruth – 0
- 1 Samuel – 13
- 2 Samuel – 5
- 1 Kings – 73
- 2 Kings – 49
- 1 Chronicles – 14
- 2 Chronicles – 9
- Ezra – 0
- Nehemiah – 0
- Esther – 12
- Job – 157
- Psalms – 220
- Proverbs – 7
- Ecclesiastes – 7
- Song of Solomon – 0
- Isaiah – 78
- Jeremiah – 27
- Lamentations – 0
- Ezekiel – 22
- Daniel – 5
- Hosea – 2
- Joel – 3
- Amos – 4
- Obadiah – 0
- Jonah – 2
- Micah – 6
- Nahum – 0
- Habakkuk – 0
- Zephaniah – 0
- Haggai – 0
- Zechariah – 4
- Malachi – 2
NEW TESTAMENT – 1,613 VERSES
- Matthew – 283
- Mark – 149
- Luke – 114
- John – 153
- Acts – 169
- Romans – 111
- 1 Corinthians – 148
- 2 Corinthians – 53
- Galatians – 33
- Ephesians – 34
- Philippians – 11
- Colossians – 21
- 1 Thessalonians – 12
- 2 Thessalonians – 6
- 1 Timothy – 21
- 2 Timothy – 15
- Titus – 4
- Philemon – 0
- Hebrews – 57
- James – 27
- 1 Peter – 22
- 2 Peter – 19
- 1 John – 15
- 2 John – 1
- 3 John – 0
- Jude – 4
- Revelation – 131
After reviewing the above list, doesn’t it make you wonder which verses he marked in those books? Well, that’s a story for another day. I think it’s worth noting that he marked over 100 verses in eleven different books in the Bible:
Matthew – 283
Psalms – 220
Acts – 169
Job – 157
John – 153
Mark – 149
1 Corinthians – 148
Revelation – 131
Luke – 114
Romans – 111
Exodus – 103
Additional highlights from his scriptures include a section where he recorded the baptisms that he had during his mission. At a time in the early 1920s when most missionaries were fortunate to have one or two baptisms, Elder Lee had 44 baptisms during his mission! Of these 44 new converts, 35 were first introduced to the gospel by Elder Lee knocking on their door or by some other method of “first contact”. There is also a section where he writes out the “Marriage Ceremony” and lists the names of the three couples for whom he performed their marriage ceremony.
Harold B. Lee’s love of the scriptures early in life provided him a firm foundation in the scriptures. This served him well and helped prepare him for greater responsibilities. Just nineteen years after his mission, he was called to be an apostle. Forty-nine years later he became the 11th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During that time he was known as a “scriptorian”. In fact, in 1972, President Harold B. Lee and his wife Freda Joan Lee traveled through Europe and the Holy Land with Elder Gordon B. Hinckley and his wife Marjorie Pay Hinckley. Sister Hinckley later recalled,
“It was interesting to see how President Lee moved into a situation. When we met with the missionaries, it was usually in the morning in a chapel filled with full-time and part-time local missionaries. As he stood to address them, he would seldom start with a word of greeting or preliminary remarks but would open the scriptures and begin a discourse. He moved through the scriptures with such ease that sometimes it was difficult to know when the words were his and when he was quoting. After one such meeting, I asked him how he had gone about memorizing the scriptures. … He thought for a moment and then said, ‘I don’t think I ever consciously memorized a scripture. I guess I have just worked them through so much that they have become a part of me and my vocabulary.'”
Hopefully this story can inspire all of us to improve our scripture study to the point that “We work through them [the scriptures] so much that they become a part of us and our vocabulary“.
I will write my next article about the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price(triple combination) that Harold B. Lee acquired when he was called to be an apostle.
Reid N. Moon is the owner of Moon’s Rare Books in Provo, Utah.
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