An Interview with David Sjodahl King

by Val Hemming
Originally published Winter 2004 (37:04)
Val: First, would you tell us a little about your mission and your unique experiences as a returning missionary traveling in Europe on the eve of World War II?
David: After my graduation from college in 1937, I was called on a mission to Great Britain. Before leaving I was ordained a Seventy by Rulon S. Wells, senior member of the First Council of the Seventy. He was then in his late eighties. He had been ordained a Seventy by none other than Brigham Young. Imagine! I could therefore trace my “Seventy” lineage back to the Three Witnesses in three jumps.
My mission gave me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of serving under the direction of President Hugh B. Brown, who later served as a counselor in the First Presidency. His deep spirituality and eloquence made him the idol of all his missionaries. We loved him with a passion. I believe it safe to say that he became a role model for all who labored under him. He understood the questions raised by his college-graduate missionaries who were experiencing a cognitive dissonance arising from their studies of geology, anthropology, philosophy, and other faith-challenging subjects. He didn’t treat elders like apostates simply because they asked searching questions. Toward the end of my mission, the British were understandably more interested in avoiding a devastating war with Germany than in finding the way to the celestial kingdom. The prewar harvest of converts, therefore, was meager, though the postwar harvest would prove much more abundant.
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