What struck me HARD was the following:

His temple work was performed posthumously so presumably he never made the trip even for a visit.

We take so much for granted in this day and age, especially those like I who were raised in Utah and, except for my mission, have never lived further than a 10-hour drive from a temple. Even as a poor college student in Boston, my wife and I went twice to the Washington, D.C. temple by bus with other members – and now there is a temple next to the meetinghouse we attended in Boston.

That a man with such a testimony in the 1900′s never made it to the temple is something I forget occasionally. Truly, I am blessed.

Ardis’ suggestion of Googling such expressions, and turning to OED, is well taken.

Walter Noblin was married by this point, with two children (one of whom would die in 1910 — as would Walter’s father — and the other be baptized the same year). Maybe family responsibilities kept him at home instead of “in Zion”? His temple work was performed posthumously so presumably he never made the trip even for a visit.

As with so many others (I keep running across references to Tsune Nachie and the Tuamotus, for instance), the Noblin name is now on my radar, and if I find further information I’ll post it. Finding new references is for me like getting a postcard from an old friend.

One other thing: The writer talks about members “in Utah” and members “in Zion” seeminly as synonyms. In the year 1908 these were one-and-the same, I suppose. And he says he would “give anything to be there.” I wonder what impeded him?

“. . . the evils of intemperance, against which we are called to bear our testimony . . .” Lewis Cass, Sec. of War, preaching in the U.S. Capitol, February 24, 1833.

” They [the Jews] are God’s witnesses, living witnesses; bearing a testimony to the genuineness, the authenticity, and consequently the inspiration, of the Holy Scriptures . . .” —Hugh McNeile, Prospects of the Jews . . . (Philadelphia, 1840), p. xxviii.

“Many others have borne, and many more, could they speak, would bear the same testimony. . . .” David E. Millard, 1874, discussing his father’s work of half a century earlier.

“At length, one evening, my husband being from home, I prayed with my children, Feb. 14, 1811, and felt such littleness, such child like simplicity, such dependence on the Lord, and such willingness as cannot be described. I went to bed but could not sleep. I wanted the blessing. I began to pray; and as I began to pray, I began to tremble. Then I heard a voice that said, Jesus is a coming, Jesus is a coming, Jesus is a coming. I trembled; the bed shook whereon I lay. By faith I saw him coming with the blessing. He drew nearer and nearer, and glory to God. He filled my soul with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Glory to God, it is better felt than told, my soul was full of glory. Then I began to muse, what can this be? it seems like immortal joy; a clean heart, pure hands, a soul sanctified. Then I heard a voice say, it is the Holy Ghost, that which the apostles received on the day of Pentecost. I felt it, I knew it, glory, glory, glory to God. I knew it to be separate from justification. I will bear testimony to what I know to my dying day.” —”The Experience of RUHAMY BOOTHE. . . . Taken from her mouth, this 11th day of April, A. D. 1814.”

“The young, amazed at the eagerness with which they had pursued the vanities of the world . . . forsook the house of mirth . . . and bore their testimony to the truth of what they once thought a chimera . . .” —1818 Vermont revival account, published 1819.

“It will further be observed, that, respecting the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, it is said these three are one. But it is not said that these three are one Being or one God. Nor is any such idea naturally implied or suggested. How then are they one? They are one, as any three witnesses, whether persons or things, are one, which unite in bearing testimony to the same truth.” —Noah Worcester, Bible News . . . , Concord, NH, 1810, p. 161

“. . . and feeling it our duty, not only in an individual, but in an associate capacity, to bear testimony against all error . . .” —Ethan Smith, quoted disapprovingly in Thomas Worcester, A Defence of Truth and Character a ]gainst Ecclesiastical Intolerance. . . (Concord, NH, 1812)