Review
Title: Mission President or Spy? The True Story of Wallace F. Toronto, The Czech Mission, and World War II
Author: Mary Jane Woodger
Publishers: Religious Studies Center BYU & Deseret Book
Genre: Non-Fiction
Year Published: 2019
Number of Pages: 236
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN13:978-1-9443-9466-0
Price: $21.99
Reviewed by Trudy Thompson for the Association for Mormon Letters
When Wallace Felt Toronto was called on a mission at the age of twenty one, he was continuing a family tradition. His grandfather was the first Roman Catholic, and the first native Italian, to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He then served a mission to Italy. Wallace’s father served a mission to Germany. So Wallace was thrilled to receive his mission call to Germany also.
Wallace served faithfully for three years, but had the unique experience of being transferred to another country after just one year in the mission field. He was chosen to go to Czechoslovakia to help establish a mission there. Despite the increasingly tense political situation of the country, the missionaries were able to introduce the gospel to many people.
Little could he imagine that just three short years later after returning home, Wallace, known as “Wally,” would then be called to return to the Czech Mission, this time as Mission President, with his wife and one year old daughter.
This was no ordinary mission field. The year was 1936, and everyone knew that the Nazis in Germany were preparing for war, and that everyone in Czechoslovakia and all of Europe would be deeply affected.
By 1938, the Czech government banned all public meetings and the church ordered the Torontos and the missionaries to leave for Switzerland. Even though they were able to return within a few months, the Nazis had invaded and had firm control over the entire country.
The situation became more and more intolerable. Missionaries were arrested and charged with various crimes, exorbitant bail money was demanded, severe restrictions were placed on all churches and gatherings of every kind. Fear and tensions ran high. Neighbors were suspicious of each other. The Gestapo was always present and would often pretend to be someone they were not.
Once again, the missionaries and the Toronto family were evacuated, and the Torontos returned to Salt Lake City. This fascinating, page turning book goes on to tell the ingenious way the members in the mission field and the Torontos stayed in touch with each other for the next fifteen years. Readers will learn how and why Wally and his wife returned again after fifteen years, and why Wally returned one more time by himself just a few months later, and what happens in that eventful and frightening last trip, when he was arrested by the Secret Police as a spy.
The volume relates how the trauma, stress and strain of this lengthy and challenging mission service had lasting effects upon Mrs. Toronto and their six children. Wally held the title of Mission President over the Czech mission for thirty-two years. During that time, no one else acted in that capacity.
Ms. Woodger has authored a fascinating, historical, page turning look at church history brilliantly interwoven with the awful history of World War II. It is an inspiring story of a steadfast, loyal and faithful family who bravely took up the call to take the gospel to a distant, unknown land, and while working against all odds, made a difference in the lives of members and nonmembers alike.
The faith, courage, fortitude, and dogged determination of Wallace Toronto and his wife is uplifting and motivating. So is the valor and boldness of the leaders and members of all the churches that fought against tyranny and oppression at a time when hate, fear, and evil raged throughout the world.
This is one of the very best books I have read in a long time. As a history buff, there was much I learned from it, and I found myself wondering how long I could courageously press on in the midst of so much oppression, so many restrictions, so much fear.
To study the amazing history of Czechoslovakia and its citizens over the years of tyranny under the Nazis, then the lengthy reign of terror under Communist Russia after World War II, is a tale of strength, fortitude, and faith.
Those who love church history, World History, World War II history, or mission stories would enjoy this book. So would prospective and current missionaries.
Every Latter-day Saint home should have this volume on their shelves. People of faith around the world would benefit from the stories of faith, devout and sincere prayer, and the miracles that can and do occur under those circumstances.
May we all learn from these examples of unwavering strength, testimony, and faith. May we all be ever so faithful.