This submission is from Wesley W. Craig who lived in Peru and served as a counselor to the Andes Mission President, J. Avril Jesperson in the mid 1960s.

While serving with President Jesperson, I had a unique experience involving Spencer W. Kimball, who was then an Apostle for the Church. Elder Kimball and his wife, Camille, visited our mission at the tail-end of an extensive trip through Latin America. The night before arriving they had been up most of the night traveling by car in Chile. The windshield of their car had been broken by a rock from a passing truck so that during the several remaining hours of driving they had to wrap blankets around themselves to stay warm from the in-rushing cold air. After only a few hours of sleep they had to catch an early morning flight to Lima.

Upon their arrival in Lima the itinerary called for a day-long trip to the Peruvian mountain city of Huancayo, high in the Andes at some 12,000 feet elevation. With no time for them to rest and at their insistence, the four of us (Elder Kimball, Camille, Pres. Jesperson and myself) set off. This required traversing the 16,000 foot high Andes mountain pass, a trip similar to the one I described earlier when our family drove to Cuzco. Conversation was animated during the early hours of our trip, but the higher we climbed the steep mountains, the quieter it became. From 10,000 feet on up to the summit there was virtual silence in the car. It was a draining experience for the Kimballs (both in their seventies), as well as ourselves.

By the time we reached Huancayo, there was only about an hour left before we were to attend a special meeting at the local chapel at which Elder Kimball was to speak. As we entered the hotel, I observed how totally exhausted both of the Kimballs were. I turned to President Jesperson and remarked that I didn't believe they could possibly be up to attending the meeting scheduled with the local Saints that evening. I thought of how disappointing that would prove to be to the members of the Church in Huancayo, who had never had an opportunity of meeting or hearing an Apostle of the Lord.

About five minutes after President Jesperson and I entered our hotel room, there was a knock on the door. It was Elder Kimball, asking if we would join him and Camille in their room for prayer. We knelt together around their bed and Pres. Kimball prayed. He pleaded with the Lord for strength to carry out the assignment. Upon concluding the prayer, Pres. Jesperson and I returned to our rooms and at the designated time for leaving for the Chapel, both Elder and Sister Kimball were ready and smiling.

That night I heard a powerful, warm spiritual message given by an Apostle of the Lord to the expectant and receptive congregation. There was no hint of the exhaustion observed earlier, no indications of the tiring ordeal of his long South American tour and the sleeplessness of the preceding Chilean night, no evidence of the wearing trip we had just been through all that day. I witnessed a man of God being sustained by the Spirit to carry out his "assignment".

In later years when the injunction of President Kimball became "Lengthen your stride", I understood what was required. In the face of whatever adversity (even in an elderly condition) you just "do it!" -- with the Lord's help.