Mission Miracle from Elder Travis Harley

September 5, 2009

So, 2 weeks ago we were at a sandwich shop, and we were just about to leave. A dude walked past who worked at the crepe shop next door in the mall. He stopped us and he started talking to us, asking about the Book of Mormon and how we claim to have the authority of God and stuff. We were talking and we exchanged numbers. Peter, is his name... in English. Petre, is his name. ha ha. So we were going to stop by his crepe shop and have a lesson over there with him. He had said to just come by because he has all the time in the world at his shop. So on Tuesday, we went over to his shop, because it wasn't official, just a whenever type of deal. So we went and had lunch at his shop and we talked. PS, the food is soooooooooooooo dang good. Then he starts talking about the Book of Mormon. Where is it today if Joseph Smith translated it? Why can't I see it? Apparently, he studied all religions in Greece. He read the Book of Mormon in two days once, and read it again a second time. So I put the Book of Momon on the table and I said, “Its right here.” I flipped to Moroni's promise and said, “If you pray you can know if this book was translated through Joseph Smith. We testified, then moved on to faith. He agreed to meet again. The next day we went back to eat lunch there and we talked a little bit more. That day something clicked. I really liked him at that moment. It was like a love just exploded for this man. Then we set up to meet the next day.

So the next day we meet at the church and we have a lesson. We bounced all over the place from kingdoms of glory to the first vision. We couldn't stay straight on a path. Now this guy knows everything about the church. I mean he knows everything about the church. He has studied a lot about our church--from the first vision to the word of wisdom. He knows everything so we couldn't really teach him anything. We just have to get him a testimony, and that was what we were trying to do. So finally I asked, if the bible says that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, what church do you believe is the church that Christ established? He stopped for a moment, looked at the church then he looked at me and said, “Your church. I know that your church is the true church... in my opinion. Apparently this is how the story goes... 5 or 6 years ago he was contacted by the missionaries for English. He came to English, didn't like it, but he came to church. He refused lessons from the missionaries, but he attended church every Sunday. Then one day, he told the elders that he wanted to be baptized. They said they needed to find a date and get things worked out. So we will get back to you. But then he heard some member, who said something like "he doesn't deserve to be baptized." or something around those borders. Peter wasn't suppose to hear it, but he heard it. From that point on, he stopped going to church. He never went back. A year ago, he decided to try it again. But the members, as he said, were phonies. They were faking love for him, but didn't mean it. He hears them talking about him. So he said, I will never come back to this branch again. soooooooo he has secretly been going to the Brasov chapel once a month.

So he reads the Book of Mormon on a regular basis, prays daily, this man is legit! He is sooooooooooooo awesome. So at that lesson he said, I stopped you guys to see if you were the elders that I needed to talk to you. That first time we talked about the Book of Mormon, I was asking you questions to see if you were the ones, and you were... but he refuses to go to this branch. So we are going to work out a situation for him to go to the Bucuresti branch, which is like 45 minutes away. Friday night we gave him a baptismal date for the 12th. He wants it, but said i don't want it now. i don't have that desire that i once had. I don't think I want it now. so we read 3 Nephi 11 with him. Tesitfy. He said he would pray about it, talk to his wife, and give it anther shot. Saturday we went back to eat a crepe and he said I prayed about it, i'll i need to do is to get my wife saying yes. He has tried to talk to her, but she needs to say yes. So he is getting that desire! OH I LOVE THIS MAN!So, 2 weeks ago we were at a sandwich shop, and we were just about to leave. A dude walked past who worked at the crepe shop next door in the mall. He stopped us and he started talking to us, asking about the Book of Mormon and how we claim to have the authority of God and stuff. We were talking and we exchanged numbers. Peter, is his name... in English. Petre, is his name. ha ha. So we were going to stop by his crepe shop and have a lesson over there with him. He had said to just come by because he has all the time in the world at his shop. So on Tuesday, we went over to his shop, because it wasn't official, just a whenever type of deal. So we went and had lunch at his shop and we talked. PS, the food is soooooooooooooo dang good. Then he starts talking about the Book of Mormon. Where is it today if Joseph Smith translated it? Why can't I see it? Apparently, he studied all religions in Greece. He read the Book of Mormon in two days once, and read it again a second time. So I put the Book of Momon on the table and I said, “Its right here.” I flipped to Moroni's promise and said, “If you pray you can know if this book was translated through Joseph Smith. We testified, then moved on to faith. He agreed to meet again. The next day we went back to eat lunch there and we talked a little bit more. That day something clicked. I really liked him at that moment. It was like a love just exploded for this man. Then we set up to meet the next day.

So the next day we meet at the church and we have a lesson. We bounced all over the place from kingdoms of glory to the first vision. We couldn't stay straight on a path. Now this guy knows everything about the church. I mean he knows everything about the church. He has studied a lot about our church--from the first vision to the word of wisdom. He knows everything so we couldn't really teach him anything. We just have to get him a testimony, and that was what we were trying to do. So finally I asked, if the bible says that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, what church do you believe is the church that Christ established? He stopped for a moment, looked at the church then he looked at me and said, “Your church. I know that your church is the true church... in my opinion. Apparently this is how the story goes... 5 or 6 years ago he was contacted by the missionaries for English. He came to English, didn't like it, but he came to church. He refused lessons from the missionaries, but he attended church every Sunday. Then one day, he told the elders that he wanted to be baptized. They said they needed to find a date and get things worked out. So we will get back to you. But then he heard some member, who said something like "he doesn't deserve to be baptized." or something around those borders. Peter wasn't suppose to hear it, but he heard it. From that point on, he stopped going to church. He never went back. A year ago, he decided to try it again. But the members, as he said, were phonies. They were faking love for him, but didn't mean it. He hears them talking about him. So he said, I will never come back to this branch again. soooooooo he has secretly been going to the Brasov chapel once a month.

So he reads the Book of Mormon on a regular basis, prays daily, this man is legit! He is sooooooooooooo awesome. So at that lesson he said, I stopped you guys to see if you were the elders that I needed to talk to you. That first time we talked about the Book of Mormon, I was asking you questions to see if you were the ones, and you were... but he refuses to go to this branch. So we are going to work out a situation for him to go to the Bucuresti branch, which is like 45 minutes away. Friday night we gave him a baptismal date for the 12th. He wants it, but said i don't want it now. i don't have that desire that i once had. I don't think I want it now. so we read 3 Nephi 11 with him. Tesitfy. He said he would pray about it, talk to his wife, and give it anther shot. Saturday we went back to eat a crepe and he said I prayed about it, i'll i need to do is to get my wife saying yes. He has tried to talk to her, but she needs to say yes. So he is getting that desire! OH I LOVE THIS MAN!