Conversion and Courage

“By the time Anson was in his early 20s he had become dissatisfied with all denominations, and he considered the preaching of Latter-day Saint missionaries an annoyance. His father, however, believed the missionaries and was baptized.

“The missionaries returned often to Madison to preach the gospel, and they frequently stopped at Anson’s house to talk to him. Among those who stopped were missionaries Brigham Young, John P. Greene, and Almon Babbitt. Anson wrote of their visits in his record: ‘In discussing with them upon the principles of the gospel … I came to the conclusion … I did not understand the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I resolved to prepare myself … by investigating the two books.’

“So Anson engaged in a thorough study of the Book of Mormon, comparing it with the Bible to better prove to the missionaries that the Church was wrong. After six months of diligent praying and searching, he finished the two books. He found, however, that the more he had studied, the more he became convinced that the missionaries were right. Instead of disproving the Book of Mormon, Anson became a firm believer in it. He wrote: ‘I was then taught by the Spirit to obey the principles of the gospel.’

“During his conversion, Anson struggled intensely over what it would be like to be classified as a ‘Mormon.’ He thought at times that he would become ‘insane’ with the inner wrestling of his soul. ‘My feelings were not known by any but my wife,’ he wrote. ‘I was proud and haughty, and to obey the gospel was worse than death. … To be called a Mormon, I thought, was more than I could endure. … I at last covenanted before the Lord that if He would give me confidence to face the world in Mormonism I would be baptized.’”

Source: http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=b7e2759235d0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1.

Mission Abruptly Ends in War

“There was other excitement for the Calls besides weddings. During April Conference, 1857, Church leaders called Anson Vasco on a mission to the Sandwich Islands, presently Hawaii. As his father had done before him, Anson Vasco made preparations for his family which now lived in Bountiful closer to parents and a supporting web of aunts and uncles and cousins. He and his wife Charlotte had two small children, Charlotte and Anson Vasco Jr. Charlotte was almost due to deliver her third child. Anson Vasco had also married Eliza Catherine Kent the previous November. The young husband and father said goodbye with hope in his heart, and no doubt, some concern. Then he left them and traveled to San Francisco. He was apparently waiting for ocean passage when Brigham Young sounded the alarm for all Saints and missionaries to come home to Salt Lake City because U.S. President James Buchanan had sent an army against the Mormons. …

“Anson Vasco came back in November to talk of troops marching toward Utah. Troubles had begun three years earlier when Brigham Young’s term of office as territorial governor was about to expire in 1854. … Anson (Call the first) wrote in his journal that Anson Vasco returned from his interrupted mission in November. He and Chester and Anson joined in the preparations against the army. Anson and Chester worked on fortifications in Echo Canyon for four weeks, whereas, Anson Vasco moved on to Fort Bridger for seven weeks to discover the movements of the enemy.”

Source: Anson Call and the Rocky Mountain Prophesy, p. 277-278, 281.

Another Mission

“During April Conference, 1864, Anson Vasco was called on a mission to Europe. For the second time, he left his family at home in Bountiful, only now Charlotte had seven children, Charlotte Viena, Anson Vasco Jr., Joseph Holbrook, Mary Vashtia, Ira, Hannah, and Lamoni. And Eliza had three children, Chester Vinson, Sidney Benager, and Ida. By 2 July, he had reached New York where he boarded a steamship for Liverpool and eventually, his field of labor in Newcastle on Tyne.”

Source: Anson Call and the Rocky Mountain Prophesy, p. 294-5.

Sickness on a mission

"When Mary [Flint]'s oldest son, Anson Vasco was returning from a mission in England, he took sick and died at Rock Springs, Wyoming. His wife Charlotte has passed away a year before. This left their seven children orphans.

"The family was broken up and the children put in the homes of the namesakes. Again, Grandmother Mary was called to take the responsibility of raising foster children. She was given the care of our own father Anson Vasco, who was then 11 years old, and Mary, 9 years. Thus, our father and Anson Bowen were brought up like brothers."

Source: http://www.bountifulutah.gov/historicalcommission/CallMary01.html