From My Father - "Eternal Soup"

My father Jim Hartley
In Austria, 1973

This is an inspiring story my father, Jim Hartley, told the family when we were younger. This took place in Austria in 1973 when he was serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I learned from this that if we exercise faith, Heavenly Father will take care of us in times of need. Below are my father's own words:

Not the actual "Eternal Soup," but
this is what it looked like Jim says

"While in Vienna, the value of the U.S. dollar dropped again and banks would not cash our U.S. checks. We quickly ran out of money and could not purchase food. With no other option, my companion and I made a big pot of soup out of oatmeal and our remaining vegetables. We had no other food and we lived on that soup three times a day for nearly two weeks. Miraculously, as we repeatedly added water to the soup over the weeks, it never spoiled, it never ran out of oatmeal and vegetables, and it always tasted good to us. We called it our 'eternal soup.'

Once again, the Lord took good care of us during difficult times. We were extremely grateful. But, once we could again purchase more food, I confess that we were also very happy to dispose of the remains of that miracle soup!"

***

Source: "James E. Hartley: My Story," written by Jim Hartley himself. November 2016.