Sterling Elwin Snyder

I haven’t said a word about what we were doing in the Church all this time. Sterling was baptized in Matthews Ward when we were living on Fifth Avenue by Cloyd Rotz (sp?). He was a husband of Margaret Cartwright who had stayed at our house in Canada while her father worked on the sugar factory. He as a mechanic at the sugar factory. So I knew her and Rotz baptized Sterling. Sterling was a ward teacher in that ward. One day we got to talking about the church. Sterling made the remark that our Pres. and all of the Gen Authorities must be very rich with everybody paying tithing, etc., Then I explained all of the things tithing was used for. We went home and right to bed. In the middle of the night Sterling woke me up asking if I had heard the thunder? I said no, I hadn’t. Then he told me that he had been awakened by a loud clash of thunder and a voice said “Do not criticize the church authorities. They are my servants, follow them.” He, Sterling, said then that he would never criticize our leaders again. At Wilshire Ward we went into the missionary class. And as he was reading the Book of Mormon he answered many of the questions that I couldn’t because I hadn’t read it. One morning the teacher asked him to close the class with prayer. {Sterling just gasped for breath.} He looked at me as if to say what shall I do? I said, “Go ahead. He got up and went to the front of the class. He tried to talk but couldn’t. Bro. Norburg started him out and led him through the prayer just like we do in Primary. He finished, and we went out. While we were still on the porch of the church, Bro. Norburg came out and apologized. He said,“You always wear a blue serge suit and are so clean with a white shirt and you were answering more questions than any others. I thought you were a returned missionary.” I’ve always been grateful that he was wise enough to come out and tell Sterling he was sorry…. Then we moved to Huntington Park… (Sterling] was secretary of the Mutual when Sally was born. Then after that he was ward clerk under Bishop Stevens. One of his couselors was a mortician and called out a lot and the other was often called out at night so Sterling was the bishop’s right hand man. Then they asked Sterling to teach a Sunday School class in Pasadena Ward (living in Altadena).

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