'The greatest church history story that nobody knows'

IDAHO FALLS - It was the spring of 1915 when newlywed couple Willard and Rebecca Bean moved to Palmyra, New York to serve as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It had been 84 years since church members had been driven out by mobs and the Bean's were not welcome.

Willard had made a name for himself as a professional boxer. About 10 years earlier, he had won the title in the national middle weight boxing championship. His fame only added to the persecution he and his wife received.

"Few if any would speak to them," Willard's granddaughter Vicki Zimmerman wrote in a recent article. "Clerks refused to wait on them in stores, people walking their dogs crossed to the other side of the street to avoid them. For two years they had to drive their horse and buggy to neighboring towns just to buy groceries."

They had lived there only a short time when a group of men came to their door.

"We are a committee that’s been sent out here to tell you people we want you to leave Palmyra. We don’t want any Mormons here," one of the men said, according to Zimmerman.

“I’m sorry to hear that," Willard replied. "We had hoped to come out here and fit in with you people and be an asset to this community. But I’m telling you we’re here to stay if we have to fight our way. I’ll take you on one at a time or three at a time. We’re here to stay.”

The Beans' faced an entourage of public ridicule and attacks on their faith for many years, but their determination to fulfill their mission would change their lives and the hearts of those they served. And it would become the longest-serving mission in the church's history.

"It's the greatest church history story that nobody knows," says T.C. Christensen, the writer and director of a new movie depicting the Beans' story entitled "The Fighting Preacher."

The film makes its theatrical debut in eastern Idaho this weekend.

Listen to our conversation with Christensen in the video above.