Centenarian takes Mormon plunge

BY FRANK LOCKWOOD

Posted on Saturday, October 4, 2008

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Dorothy Wagner has been baptized twice in her life: The first time by sprinkling in a Presbyterian Church, the second time by immersion in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.

The first ritual took place before women’s suffrage. The second — more than a century later — occurred in the Internet age.

Of the 279, 218 Mormon converts in 2007, Wagner was the oldest in Arkansas — perhaps the oldest anywhere, church officials say.

The Horseshoe Bend woman was nearly 103 when she received “baptism for the remission of sins” and reached what the church has called the “gateway to the celestial kingdom.”

On Saturday afternoon, Wagner shared her testimony with about 100 fellow Latter-day Saints who had gathered for a church relief society meeting in North Little Rock.

The day’s theme: “A New You.”

“I’m still a youngster in the church. I can’t wait to tell you my secrets,” Wagner told the crowd, smiling as she said it.

Someone asked Wagner what she’d want to tell the world about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I’d say ‘ Join it. Join me, ’” Wagner said. “All these lovely people: I can’t praise them enough.”

For most of Wagner’s life, the Mormon church had been a distant entity — a tabernacle choir, a Temple Square, a place of worship in a distant city.

But about five years ago, Mormons built a house of worship in Ash Flat, about 15 miles from Wagner’s home.

One Sunday, dissatisfied with her church, Wagner drove to the Mormon church instead and walked through the doors.

“They’d never seen me before, and I’d never seen them,” she said in an interview. The people inside were “all smiles and wondering what on earth I was doing there.”

Soon, the widow found herself surrounded by new friends, people who don’t smoke or drink alcohol or coffee, people who typically put on their Sunday finest when they go to worship God.

“They always dress and look so fresh and nice,” she said. “The men are cordial. They always come up and shake hands with me.”

Church members offered to bring Wagner to church, but she declined their invitation, preferring to drive her 20-year-old white Cadillac to services.

During the week, Wagner studied Mormon teachings and watched BYU Television, a cable and satellite station affiliated with the church’s flagship university.

Church members embraced “Sister Wagner,” taking her food and visiting her home several times a week.

Eventually, Wagner decided to become a Latter-day Saint herself.

“They act like they like me,” Wagner said.

“More than like. We love you,” interjected Teresa Bailey, a Visiting Teacher who checks on Wagner.

When she visits, Bailey offers companionship more than doctrine.

“I have a good listening ear. That’s what she wants. That’s what she needs,” Bailey said. “She’s just a delightful person, and I learn from her.”

In 1904, the year of Wagner’s birth, there were only 324, 289 Mormons on the seven continents of the world. Today, there are 13. 2 million.

“It’s the fastest growing church in the world. Did you know that ?” Wagner said. “Must be doing something right.”

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