Continuing from Brad Wilcox, ‘Changed Through Grace’: Not long after this, Louisa met her husband-to-be, George Taylor, at a church meeting. She was in a silk dress and wore her dark hair in long ringlets. George told his friends that she was the girl he wanted to marry. They told him she was out of his league, but George won Louisa’s love, and they were married in 1853. Two daughters soon followed. They longed to immigrate to Utah to be with the Saints but lacked the funds. George decided to move to America where he could earn money faster and then send for his wife and family to join him.
Louisa’s father heard that George had “abandoned” his daughter and her two children. He sent Louisa’s sister to plead with her to denounce the Mormons and divorce her husband. Her father promised that his granddaughters would be well educated. Louisa told her sister that she values education but had found something more important. She had found the fullness of the gospel. She was not content to settle for less when she could have more. She wanted her daughters to have an education, but she also wanted them to know and love the Savior. Her sister departed and soon George sent enough for Louisa and their girls to sail to America.
The voyage was difficult. Louisa and her daughters were traveling steerage. Fearing lice, Louisa cut her and her daughters’ long hair. A storm blew the ship off course, which delayed their arrival in New York by several weeks. Food was being rationed. Louisa became so ill she was confined to her bed while her two daughters roamed the deck and made do as best they could. Louisa prayed to be spared until she could deliver her girls to their father. One night a man came to her with some bread and cheese. The food lifted her spirits and gave her the nourishment she needed. From that moment her health began to improve. When the ship finally landed, Louisa asked the captain who the kind man was so she could thank him. The captain listened to her description and assured her there was no such man on board. She knew she had received divine help and strength beyond her own. ~Brad Wilcox, Changed Through Grace (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017), 35-38 Dwarsligger edition 1020. . . . continued
