Carl and Dorothy Doerfler recently returned home to Thousand Oaks, Calif., after serving 18 months as a senior missionary couple in the Family History Microfilm/fiche Distribution Center in the England Birmingham Mission. Sister Doerfler related this incident:

"The center has about 95,000 films in our circulating library, servicing 109 family history centers throughout Great Britain. Often patrons will order more than one film at a time. They then view these films at their local center.

"Sometimes, patrons are not careful to replace the film in the correct box after viewing. They do not check the film number with the one printed on the outside of the box to verify they are the same. The error may not be discovered until another center orders the film and the patron opens the box and discovers it does not contain the correct film.

"So you can imagine my reaction when I answer a phone call and it is a center making such a complaint. I then get to play 'film detective' to find the correct film and to make apologies to the unhappy patron.

"However, one such phone call to tell me that we sent the wrong film had a much different outcome. The patron told me that although it wasn't the film she had ordered, she went ahead and viewed it anyway. Upon viewing the film, she discovered a person whose identity she had been searching for quite some time without success. In fact, she had almost given up hope of ever finding this person. She felt that receiving this film in the wrong box was an answer to her prayers. She was thrilled with the information obtained from the film, which came to her by mistake.

"Many people doing family history research ask for guidance in their work. The Lord does answer our prayers and often through another person in ways not expected. With an inventory of 95,000 films and a circulation to 109 centers, what are the chances of the very film she needed being in the wrong box and delivered to her? Also, what are the chances of her taking the time to view a film that she had not ordered? Family history research does have its rewarding moments."

— Elder Frank Millward, Church Educational System missionary, England Birmingham Mission