Here is a great story that Grandmother Robison has related dozens of times about her great grandmother who was kidnapped by Indians when she was three years old. It makes a great story to share in Primary or in a family home evening lesson.
Background. Christina's mother Eliza Adelaide Dolbel and her grandmother Susanne Esnouf Dolbel joined the Church in 1854 after meeting two Mormon missionaries on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands (just off the coast of France). They immigrated to the United States with the Perpetual Immigration Fund. Susanne's husband Philippe and son Jean were to join the women a year later, but never did. So at the age of 52, considered elderly in those days, Susanne and her daughter landed in New Orleans and were assigned to a handcart company to embark upon a 1,000 mile trek to Salt Lake City. (Eliza is reknown for having brought the first guitar to Utah and was the center of attention at many a campfire during the long excursion to the West.) She and were mother were assigned to travel with Christopher Lister RIding and his large, growing family. Eliza was very helpful in caring for the children as Sister Riding was expecting a baby. Upon arrival in Salt Lake, she became the second wife of Brother Riding. Although she was 18 years younger than his first wife, she did have the first wife's approval.
The lesson: This story centers around Christina, the oldest child of Eliza and C. L. Riding. When Christina was three years old, her mother, Eliza had another baby. One day when the baby was very young and Eliza needed a nap, she asked Christina to stay by a tree with a swing outside the house and not go anywhere while Eliza slept. She told her she would call for her when she woke up. At the end of her nap, she called for Christina but there was no answer. She hurried outside and you can imagine the sick feeling she had in her stomach when she saw hoof prints around the swing set, Christina's doll leaning neatly against the tree, and no sign of Christina. Christina would never go anywhere without her doll. Eliza quickly rang the bell used for calling her family to dinner or for sounding the alarm for emergencies. C.L. Riding and his two sons (from his other wife) came running in from the field and upon discovery of what had happened realized instantly that the Indians had kidnapped Christina. Luckily they knew where the Indians' camp had been spotted, so they jumped on their horses and raced for the camp. Just as the sun was setting they pulled into the camp and saw Christina sitting on a horse with one of the Indians. She held out her arms and said "Daddy, I knew you would come." She jumped into her father's arms and was carried safely home. When her father asked her how she knew he would come, she replied that she had been praying all afternoon that he would come." Had he arrived minutes later, the little girl would have been hidden in one of the tents and never heard of again by her family.
What a testimony this is to the faith of a little girl who believed without wavering in the power of prayer. Her great granddaughter was Grandmother Robison, who was often told this story by her own grandmother, Addie Asay Houston, who was Christina's daughter. This story was related to me on August 2, 2009 in Orem, Utah by Grandmother Robison
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