Ephraim Hanks, Rescuer

"As he was about to lie down he thought about the hungry Saints and instinctively 
asked the Lord to send him a buffalo.  As he opened his eyes at the end of his prayer, 
he was startled at the sight of a buffalo standing barely 50 yards away."

Ephraim Hanks, Rescuer

President James E. Faust shared Ephraim's story as part of a talk he gave in the April 1999 General Conference entitled, "Obedience, The Path to Freedom".  In his talk, President Faust said: 

"Ephraim Hanks is a remarkable example of a young man’s obedience to spiritual promptings. In fall of 1856, after he had gone to bed, he heard a voice say to him, “The handcart people are in trouble and you are wanted; will you go and help them?” Without any hesitation he answered, “Yes, I will go if I am called.”

He rode quickly from Draper to Salt Lake City. As he arrived he heard the call for volunteers to help the last handcart companies come into the valley. Eph jumped up and said, “I am ready now!” He was as good as his word, leaving at once and alone.

A terrific storm broke as he took his wagon eastward over the mountains. It lasted three days, and the snow was so deep that it was impossible to move the wagons through it. So Eph decided he would go on horseback. He took two horses, one to ride and one to pack, and picked his way carefully through the snow to the mountains. Dusk came as he made his lonely camp at South Pass. As he was about to lie down he thought about the hungry Saints and instinctively asked the Lord to send him a buffalo. As he opened his eyes at the end of his prayer, he was startled at the sight of a buffalo standing barely 50 yards away. He took aim, and one shot sent the animal rolling down into the hollow where he was encamped.

Early next morning, he took the two horses and the buffalo meat and reached Ice Springs Bench. There he shot another buffalo, even though it was rare to find buffalo in this area this late in the season. After he had cut the meat into long strips, he loaded up his horses and resumed his journey. And now I quote from Eph’s own narrative:

“I think the sun was about an hour high in the west when I spied something in the distance that looked like a black streak in the snow. As I got near to it, I perceived it moved; then I was satisfied that this was the long looked for handcart company, led by Captain Edward Martin. … When they saw me coming, they hailed me with joy inexpressible, and when they further beheld the supply of fresh meat I brought into camp, their gratitude knew no bounds. Flocking around me, one would say, ‘Oh, please, give me a small piece of meat;’ another would exclaim, ‘My poor children are starving, do give me a little;’ and children with tears in their eyes would call out, ‘Give me some, give me some.’ … Five minutes later both my horses had been released of their extra burden--the meat was all gone, and the next few hours found the people in camp busily engaged in cooking and eating it, with thankful hearts.”

Certainly Ephraim Hanks’s obedience to spiritual promptings led him to become a vanguard hero as he forged ahead alone through that devastating winter weather to preserve many pioneer lives. Because he listened to the whisperings of the Spirit and obeyed the counsel of the Brethren, Eph became a notable liberating force in the lives of those desperate, struggling pioneers."

Ephraim's story is a pillar example of what real obedience means.  When he first left to rescue the stranded pioneers, he encountered terrible storms, and he could have easily justified giving up and heading back home; he did not. He remained true to the knowledge and assignment he had been given. And while he had no idea how exactly it was going to work out, he exercised absolute faith and chose to move forward in faith.

THOUGHT FROM THE STAKE:  Every person born into mortality has a story and, like Ephraim, we may not know exactly where it is going, but our Heavenly Father does.  Even when things are challenging and we have no idea how everything will work out, we can hang on to the knowledge that our Father in Heaven will lovingly guide us through each chapter.  The key to true discipleship is to follow our leaders and the whisperings of the Spirit, for you never know to whom He may send you to rescue, or how your own life may be rescued when you do so.  How grand is the life whose story is penned by God.