Finding Faith at the Fair: How an Experience in 1964 Led to a Lifetime of Church Service

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By Jason F. Wright, for the Church News

Sixty years ago, Mary Ann Esterling Brady and a friend walked through the gates of the 1964-1965 World’s Fair in New York City with more than 50 million other guests. For most attendees, the event’s theme — “Peace Through Understanding” — was simply a sweet slogan. But for the 20-year-old Brady, it wasn’t slick marketing, it was a promise. Brady soon learned that if she had eyes to see and ears to hear, she might actually find some peace or understanding.

In fact, she found both.

The 1964-1965 edition of the World’s Fair featured 140 pavilions, 45 corporate exhibits and more than 100 restaurants, all sprawled across 600 acres of Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. The two young adventurers from a small town in Pennsylvania had only one day at the fair and couldn’t possibly see it all, so they grabbed a map at the entrance and planned to walk fast.

“When we arrived, we stood at the entrance trying to decide where to go first,” Brady said. “I noticed a pavilion just across from the entrance that didn’t have a long line and seemed like a good place to start.”

The friends didn’t know what the pavilion was but were intrigued by what they later learned was a replica of the façade of the east tower of the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I remember hearing familiar sounding choir music playing as we entered, so we assumed it was one of the religious exhibits — but still didn’t know which one.”

They were soon invited to watch a new movie called “Man’s Search for Happiness,” a 13-minute film produced by the Brigham Young University Motion Picture Studio for audiences at the Church’s pavilion. Brady found the film fascinating for how it asked and answered life’s three great questions: “Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?”

Brady recalls the peaceful feeling from what she now knows was the Holy Ghost. ”I had always believed in life after death,” she said. “But until that moment, I had never heard of the concept of a pre-existence, but it made sense from the very beginning.”

When the friends walked out of the exhibit, they were asked to fill out an informational card with their contact information. They signed their names and moved on, and by the time they’d toured the rest of the fair and seen countless other exhibits from around the world, the Church’s entry was just a memory.

Until it wasn’t.

A week later, Brady returned from work to find two well-dressed young men sitting on her porch talking with her mother. Brady’s first thought? “I assumed they were selling pots and pans,” she said with a laugh. Naturally, the men were missionaries, and they reminded Brady that she and her friend had filled out and signed cards at the World’s Fair.

The missionaries, Elders Liddell and MacLachlan, asked when they could teach her more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. “I told them they could come back, but that if I was going to sit through this meeting, my friend would too.”

A few nights later, the missionaries returned and wasted no time teaching Brady and her friend about the restoration, the Book of Mormon and baptism. The missionaries also extended an invitation to attend church, which both women accepted.

When the Sabbath arrived, they walked into the Media Branch of the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Stake wearing their best Sunday hats — and immediately wondered what they’d just done. The rented building looked nothing like the churches they were familiar with.

But inside the doors of that humble chapel, Brady felt something familiar. It was the same sweet spirit from her experience in New York. “It was such an outpouring of friendship and love,” she said.

The visitors felt genuinely welcomed, and Brady noted that it was quite different from her previous experiences attending another church as a child. “The only person who ever welcomed me was the minister on the way out the door.” But on that memorable first Sunday at a branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, every single soul had greeted the women and invited them to return.

As the missionary lessons continued, Brady’s interest and understanding grew, but so did the opposition. Her friend was losing interest, and one of Brady’s coworkers was particularly aggressive in discouraging her from learning more. “I began to feel as though I was in a vice,” Brady said. “When the missionaries or members spoke with me, I felt up and happy, and then just as soon as this woman would call me, I would feel very upset.”

Brady’s father was also concerned, and he told his daughter that he wouldn’t allow future visits with the missionaries in the Esterling home unless she met with the minister of their local Baptist church. To her surprise — and certainly that of her father — the minister told her that he knew some very good people with strong morals who were members of the Church. He said that although he did not agree with some of the doctrines, if she believed she could have a closer relationship with the Savior by becoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then she should do that.

After more study, prayer and a branch-wide fast on her behalf, Brady was baptized in Philadelphia on October 3, 1964.

Two years later, in that same chapel while decorating for a dinner and dance, Mary Ann Esterling met an Idaho farm boy-turned-sailor named Ed Brady. “I have no doubt that I wasn’t at the World’s Fair to be entertained, and Ed didn’t join the Navy to see the world,” she said. “The Lord is so aware of us, so instrumental.”

Several decades and many experiences later, Ed and Mary Ann Brady were called to serve as senior missionaries in the Canada Winnipeg Mission — serving in Regina, Saskatchewan, for 18 months in a tiny branch. It was a far cry from Queens and the World’s Fair, but the Spirit was the same.

Today the Bradys live in Bel Air, Maryland. They’re the parents of three children and enjoy nine grandchildren.

Reminiscing on her journey, Mary Ann Brady knows the 1964-1965 World’s Fair won’t remember her, but she’ll always remember it. More importantly, she’ll never forget its powerful promise of “peace through understanding.”

Yes indeed, she found both.

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