February 16, 2009
I was praying earnestly to find someone who we could teach. I wondered why the Lord wouldn't send us to those He knows are prepared. I told Him, "I'm here now...and I'm doing everything I can to be obedient." I finally came to the conclusion that I can expect great things if I'm willing to do my part. I told Him that I would muster all my courage and try to contact more people. If I did my best to talk more, I expected Him to guide us to one who is ready. As the day neared it's end, I decided that perhaps I hadn't fully done my part. However, still trying to be brave, we began block-knocking. Behind one door, stood a man smoking his cigarette and talking on the phone. He told us to wait while he finished the phone call. We began talking with him, and found out that he and his wife lost their adopted daughter when she was just four years old. Her death had killed them both. We testified to him that he could see her again, and that throught the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can be together with those we love for eternity. He just shook his head and said, "Who knows." But--his wife came home as we stood talking in the doorway. She held perfectly still and listened as we bore our witness. She invited us in, and we began a lesson on the Plan of Salvation, the purpose of opposition in this life, and of eternal families through the restored gospel. We then talked about how they can know it's true through reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. Victoria (the wife) began to cry and told us, "I want to know...I want to know." It was amazing for me to finally see someone who wasn't just curious, but really wants to know if she can see her daughter again. She'd truly been humbled by her afflictions, just like the people in the Book of Mormon who Alma and Amulek taught. Now she is ready to hear the word. It was a great lesson and I hope to continue working with her. The experience taught me that the Lord is so merciful, even when we fall short, He blesses us for trying.
Story #2: Sora Thompson and I went to the church for a lesson. As we waited our investigator to show up--which she never did--we decided to clean up the garbage along the fence line. As we were finishing, I noticed a man standing on the sidewalk watching us and staring at the building. He approached and asked, "What church is this?" Happily, we shared with him a brief lesson about our chruch and Sora Thompson ran into the church to get him a book. When she handed the book to him, he beamed! He told us that he'd seen the book before in English, and wanted to read it, but didn't know where to get it. He had no number for us to contact him and isn't from Bucharest (if I understood Romanian right) so we watched him walk away with a book and hope the Lord will take it from there. This is another example of how missionaries can be put in the right place at the right time.
I have one more story. We went through the ward roster in search of less-active members to visit. I saw a man who lives very close and asked Sora Thompson if we should try him. She had tried numerous times before and no one would come to the door. However, we agreed that it would be worth another try since he was so close. To our great joy, we found a wonderful old man with parkinsons disease, who cannot leave his apartment. He has a testimony of gold and was grateful for our visit. He told us that his birthday would be on Sunday, so we made arrangements to bring the sacrament to him. I have never appreciated the sacrament as much as I did yesterday, when I saw the Elders kneel on the rug in his humble apartment and provide a way for this man to renew his sacred covenants. Once more, I realized how blessed I am. It's wonderful that all I have to do is put on some shoes and walk to the church. Every week I am able to renew my covenants and be made clean again. This man had been without that priviledge for a long time so we were thrilled to provide him with the sacrament on his birthday!
I know that the Lord knows His children. No one is lost to Him. He loves us all very much and will bless us whenever we call on His name. I love being a missionary.
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