Sketches of Missionary Life, by Edwin L. Parry, is full of brief narratives illustrating both the difficulties and the miracles associated with missionary life in the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s now available as a free e-book on Project Gutenberg.

The text was originally produced to provide “fresh reading matter of a wholesome character to the youth of Zion; and it is issued with the hope that its contents may stimulate faith in the heart of the reader, and assist him in his efforts to become more useful in the Kingdom of God.” Many of the stories presented were related to the author or collected by observation during his own missionary endeavors, and they include experiences from the lives Parley P. Pratt and Brigham Young. Despite the book’s age, the faith-promoting events it recounts are similar to the miracles missionaries experience today.

Though brief, Sketches of Missionary Life will build one’s faith in reality of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and will remind those who have served missions of their own miraculous experiences.

MTP editing intern Allie Bowen of BYU proofread and produced Sketches of Missionary Life and contributed to this post.