Elder
Jensen
At
the beginning of my mission along with many missionaries that are learning new
languages I was having trouble learning Spanish. After being out for 6 weeks I had no idea
what I could do to help me to learn. I
felt horrible because I couldn’t speak the language and help the people that I
had been called to serve. I read a
scripture in Ether during this time that said that AFTER faith comes the
miracles. I decided that I needed to
have more faith and work harder on my part to learn the language. After all we know that Faith without works is
dead. So I got to work. My goal for the next week was to not speak a
word of English. It was very hard at
first, but as the days went by I noticed that I could speak better, and
understand more. As I was doing my part
I was seeing a miracle happening. After
that one week in my mission Spanish has been so much easier to learn. I grew in my testimony that miracles happen,
and we are blessed as we do our part first by doing all that we can do. Faith does indeed procede miracles.
Elder
Garrett
-My
companion and I were struggling with an investigator who’d been taught for
years. We had tried everything we could
think of, but seemed to be getting nowhere.
She knew that the Book of Mormon was true and wanted to be baptized, but
she was very, very nervous. We didn’t
really know how to help her see that baptism was just a first step; that it was
something she didn’t need to be scared of, something she was ready for. The family went on Christmas vacation, and
so everyday for two and a half weeks I prayed to know what we needed to teach
her. I asked Heavenly Father again and
again what I could say to help her understand that baptism was her next
step. Finally, I told my companion my
worries, and that I felt we might never get there. He responded that he’d been feeling the same
way, and had even been praying just the same to try to find an answer. We decided that the best way to move forward
was to talk to her about how she knew the Book of Mormon was true, and try to
use that spiritual experience to teach baptism.
When they finally came back from their vacation, we did just that, and
had one of the most powerful lessons I’d ever experienced. She committed to be baptized, but was still
worried about accepting a baptismal date to work towards. My companion and I again felt stuck, and a
little frustrated. We were doing all
that we knew how to do, and just couldn’t see a way to help her. Finally, my companion and I decided to fast
together and then see if we could select a date she would agree to be baptized. We fasted, and I remember very clearly, that
without looking at a calendar or asking the investigator about a baptismal
date, the number 25 popped into my head.
I didn’t recognize it as an answer to our fasting and prayer, and so I
tried everything I could think of, reading chapter 25 of every book in the s scriptures that had one, reading verse 25, singing hymn number 25 and all
other sorts of silly things. In our next
lesson with her, she said she wanted to pick a day to be baptized, and that her
and her sister had talked about it, but she didn’t know yet which one. She looked at the calendar on her phone, and
as soon as she did that I knew what to say.
I asked, ‘How does February 25th look?’ and she said, ‘How did you know
which one I looked at?!!?’ We prayed
about it right then, and she knew that February 25th was the day that Heavenly
Father wanted her to be baptized.
Because of this experience, I know that God answers prayers, and
sometimes we just have to learn to recognize those answers.
Elder Salzl
A few transfers ago my companions
and I received a phone call from the mission home. A less active member’s
nonmember husband had been hospitalized shortly after breaking his hip, and
wanted a priesthood blessing to help him heal. As we arrived at the hospital
and began talking to him we quickly discerned that the man, although raised
Baptist had little or no trust in God or the power of Jesus Christ to heal him.
He talked about being shot when he was young and since that time had not had
the use of his leg. Many times he had prayed for the ability to walk again as
he used to, but never had he felt that God had heard that prayer. He told us
his diagnosis that he would be treated for a few days for a form of blood
poisoning and then released from the hospital, and how for the rest of his life
he would need to take expensive medication to keep him alive.
We
shared a scripture about the lame man, whom the apostles had asked of Jesus,
who has sinned that he was made lame, this man or his parents? Jesus replied,
neither this man nor his parents, but that the works of God may be manifest in
him. We talked about bad things happening to us as a means of teaching us how
to rely on Jesus Christ and his atonement.
We invited him to continue to pray and read the scriptures, that God
would hear him and had an answer for him, that he would answer his prayers in
His own time. The man dodged the commitment, skeptically talking about the
Baptist church in which he was raised and the strangeness of their practices.
With nothing left to say to the
man, we testified of our calling, and the purpose of being there to give him a
blessing according to the Spirit and try to help him to understand Gods will
concerning him. Perhaps even to heal him if he would rely on the power of Jesus
Christ. He agreed to be blessed, and after the blessing a wonderful Spirit of
calmness had come upon him. We asked him how he felt, he said “Like the Spirit
is with me” we asked him to pray, and we would come back the next night to
check on him.
The next day his diagnosis was
changed, he would not be walking but shortly after our visit the doctor had
visited him personally and explained that “his diagnosis was not as bad as they
had originally expected it to be” He would be transferred to another hospital
in a week or so for further treatment, which after a few weeks would cure his
blood disease. He told us about the prayers he had said the night before, the
way he had felt after the blessing that everything would be alright. We read
Third Nephi chapter eleven, and he told us he needed to be baptized. We
committed him to be, and after sending his information into the referral
secretary left him with a Bible, a Book of Mormon and a prayer.
Elder
Little
I
have a testimony that the Lord accepts our sacrifice for Him. In one of my old areas, we were teaching
these two investigators that couldn’t get baptized till they moved out of the
place they were living. They had read
the Book of Mormon and knew it was true.
They were coming to church every week and participating in activities as
well. We did everything we could to
encourage them to stay strong and never lose sight of that goal to be baptized
into Heavenly Fathers Kingdom. Over the
next several months I got transferred a few times and didn’t hear about how
they were doing. Then one day, out of
the clear blue, me and my companion got invited to their baptism. What I liked
most about the baptism was how many missionaries were there to support
them. All those missionaries gave
everything they had to help them and keep them moving forward. Those investigators were finally able to
receive the blessing of being baptized and will continue to progress in the
church, because of all the effort put in by members and missionaries!!
Elder
Nelsen
I
was teaching a investigator named M. He reminded me of everything in the past. He made mistakes as he unaware looked for the
truth in his life. He was deaf, and he wanted to know his purpose here on this
earth. I had a same feeling until I finally found the light, but I wasn’t fully
strong in faith as many wonderful missionaries are, and I have many humbling
experiences of my deafness challenges along with the overcoming them. I have
learnt out in my mission with M of forgiveness, and humble
submitting my will to Heavenly Father’s Will. One day M told me what I
have been wondering my whole life- The life after death. He was
understandably worried about what will happen when this earth life ends. I
have oft wondered about that because as a deaf person, deaf people will always
want to see proof in their lives to support their beliefs. I was reading in Alma about life after death,
and it spoke great peace to my troubling heart, and I finally gain knowledge that this restored church has all of the truths in this earth, and I was overjoyed
to answer M's question as I taught him about Plan of Salvation with power
of Holy Ghost. Ever since that day I got the revelation about my deepest
fear becoming strength, I knew from that day I have no longer feared death, for
I know that this life is only a moment in eternal view. I know that Heavenly
Father Loves all of His children, and he deeply loves me as his beloved son,
even when I have many stumbling mistakes. I need to learn and grow, but he only
cares that I keep myself walking in his arm of love. I testify that Jesus
Christ lives. He died for all of us, and He have atonted for all of us, so We
can come back to Him. This is my spiritually experience. In name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder
Moss
I
have had many wonderful experiences over the course of my mission. I had one last night that really strengthened
my testimony that God will put into our mouths the things in which we should
say. We went to visit a less active
family who we have been working on to help them get back to church. We had planned a lesson to teach based on the
Prophet Joseph Smith. We arrived and
began to start the lesson with them. We
started asking them about their feelings on Joseph Smith. As we talked I felt impressed that this isn’t
what they needed to hear. I started to
ask them a question and was again prompted that it wasn’t what the lesson was
to be on. I said “We wanted to ask you
what you think the importance of…” I
realized that Joseph Smith wasn’t what should be talked about. I just continued speaking with faith not
knowing how to finish the question and said “baptism is?” It was the perfect question. It really helped them think about what they
have promised and what they are doing to fulfill those promises. It was just a small little experience but it
shows the Lord is with us all the time as we are worthy of it.
Hermana Lameko
I
am ever so grateful for the lovely and marvelous experiences that I have
serving the Lord. One of the main sources of strength in the Church is the
unity and love that binds our families’ relations. I was humbled by an
experience I had in my first area (Cudahy). One night we it was past 8pm and
our plans all fell through. My companion and I had no idea where to go so we
parked the car and we asked the Lord in prayer for guidance. I felt prompted to
visit a family (Familia O), they had been less-active for a while but
started coming back to church. When we arrived at their home both the parents
and three kids (2girls and 1boy) were there and invited us to come in. It was a
Monday morning so they asked us if we could have a family home evening with them.
We taught the importance of prayer simply so that their children could
understand. At the end we started talking about their family and general
backgrounds. Brother O shared with us that he served a mission many years
ago in Mexico and some of his experiences. He then told us something very
interesting, he said he had good news for us and that is their oldest daughter
(Wendy) is 9 years old and needed to be baptized. At that moment I felt a
reconfirmation that the Lord will lead us to where we need to be when we ask
for His guidance because this is His work. We started teaching her and she was
my first baptism being a full-time missionary. She loves reading from the Book
of Mormon. This family is really strong in the church and both the parents have
callings in the Bell Gardens Ward. I
know that there are many phases of missionary work, but whatever we do as
missionaries should be inspired and guided by the Lord.
I LOVE THIS WORK!
Elder
Pack
This
assignment was tough for it was hard to pick which one, it seems like most days
are filled with wonderful blessings of the Lord. An experience I had recently
helped me build faith in the Lord being able to use missionaries as
instruments. One of the members of my district asked for a blessing. During the
blessing I felt prompted to say things that I quite frankly didn’t want to say.
I felt that they were promises that the hearer may not enjoy or feel were all
that comforting. But I went forward with faith and spoke the things that came
to my mind. The blessing done, we parted ways and I still dumbfounded as to why
I would be prompted to say such a blessing. I fretted over it for several days.
On Sunday night I made my follow up calls. I was elated and surprised that on
the other end I was told “Elder Pack it happened” they went on to explain that
the things that I had said had been fulfilled and had warned them of the things
that had just come to pass. I was pleased that the Lord was able to help them
know specificly what it was He wanted them to know. I am reminded of the motto of our prophet
Thomas S Monson when he says “If ever there is a errand that the Lord needs
done, I want Him to know Tom Monson will do it for Him.” (I may have misquoted
but I tried my best) I know that the Lord calls us to be on His errand.
Elder
Long
It
was the day we had the mission wide fast, I was praying for a spiritual
experience! My companion (Elder Nishime)
and I were walking out of a cancelled appointment. While on the sidewalk I
noticed a Young Man walking right behind us. He had his headphones on and he
was wearing baggy basketball clothing. At first glance my thoughts were “this
guy is not going to want to listen”. We continued walking but I kept looking
back every few seconds. There was a debate going on in my head whether or not I
should talk to this person. Eventually it hit me…I would be going against
everything I’ve learnt on my mission and I definitely would not be fulfilling
my purpose if I did not talk to him. I swallowed my pride and stopped walking.
I turned around and did the awkward hand signs to get this young man to take
off his headphones. He took them off and gave me a confused look. I introduced
myself and explained to him what I do as a missionary. I asked him if he knew
anyone that can use an uplifting message on Jesus Christ. He looked me straight
in the face and said “Me, Follow me to my house”. This young man starts walking
ahead of us. My companion and I start to follow. While we were walking I
started to ask this young man questions to get to know him. His name is
P, he loved basketball and he is currently attending an Adult school to
get his High School Diploma. We went into his house and taught him The
Restoration. At the end of the lesson he told us “It was no accident I met you
guys today, this is what I needed to hear”.
I in return told him that I was praying for someone that needed to hear
this message and that he was the answer to my prayer. The Spirit was so strong.
We committed him to be baptized and he gladly accepted. 8 weeks later he was
baptized in the Westchester YSA Branch.
This
wonderful experience that I was able to have last transfer has strengthened my
testimony in a couple of ways.
1. We need to talk to everyone! As
missionaries and as members of the church, We simply cannot predict who will or
who won’t accept the gospel! Everyone deserves the chance and everyone needs to
be invited. No matter how scary or awkward a situation can be… “Perfect love
casteth out all fear”
2.
That miracles happen when we fast for a specific purpose. I was looking for a
spiritual experience and Heavenly Father blessed me with one!
I
love being a missionary!
Sister
Johansen
I
recently had a day where I felt the need to ask my district leader for a
blessing. There were several things weighing on my mind and after many of my
own prayers I decided that I needed the added guidance of a priesthood
blessing. This blessing was very unique. My district leader addressed some of
the issues that I had been praying about but then I was counseled to trust in
the Priesthood, which seemed a little off topic from the rest of the prayer. I
was told that more challenges would be coming my way but that I should trust
the guidance I would receive from Priesthood leaders. The following Sunday my
companion and I learned that the family ward we serve in was disbanded and that
half of our members would be now attending the Lawndale ward and the other half
would be attending the Gardena ward. What was significant to me was that at the
time of the blessing I knew that this event would occur. I had been prepared by
the Lord to meet this challenge. Normally a significant change such as the
dissolving of a ward would cause me much stress and anxiety but because of the
blessing I had received I knew what to expect and that if I followed the
counsel I had been given to trust in the Priesthood, everything would turn out
for the better. I’m very grateful to Heavenly Father for communicating with me
through that blessing, and I’m also grateful to have always been surrounded by
those who honor their Priesthood and can provide that great service.
Sister
Deskins,
About
two month ago we meet with M who was a member referral. M had great faith in the Lord and Jesus
because of her teaching while growing up in her other church, so she found the
truth through the message we have. She
wanted to know more and more, every time we give her things to read and things
do before out next visit, she cannot wait to do them. In our second visit we had set a baptismal
date with her, she was not sure about it, because she felt it might be too soon
for her. After we explained, it is a
goal we are setting for the three of us with the help of the Lord. That night M took our invitation to pray
to know, if it was something God wanted her to do. The next day she came and told us her
experience; she said that in her prayer she heard a voice say. “Why are you asking me that when you already know
the answer” She said, she cried. Here
M got her answer to be baptized, sense that day on she was counting the
days of her baptism with eagerness. It
has been a month since her baptism.
M strength my testimony so much, because of the trust she gives in
Our Heavenly Father.
Elder
Kiser
My
2nd day in a new area my companion and I were heading to try a
potential investigator and ran across a man on the street that I felt that I
needed to talk with. He was a Spanish speaker but preferred English so I began
to converse with him about what we do. I asked him a series of questions and
the man that started off hard and defensive began to really open up and talk, to
the point of asking questions to us as well. We talked of the Savior then moved
to eternal families and he let us know that he had just lost a new born son and
was going around to his neighbors seeking financial aid as the funeral was the
following day. By this point he began to
cry and was really helpless in the loss that he had gone through. I threw an
arm around him and had the opportunity to bear testimony of eternal families -- a
doctrine exclusive to us and invited him to talk to his wife and receive us
following the funeral to learn more. The love I felt was really an amazing
experience to feel the true love of Christ in having this bond with someone who
was a stranger just 5 minutes prior. It helped me gain perspective on how the
Lord feels about us all and really helped me increase my faith.
Elder
Koo
Due to the opportunities to
prepare trainings, I have been having a great time studying the Preach My
Gospel. The most valuable thing that I have learned through that experience is
that the Lord is preparing the people wherever and whenever the situation is
taking place. One day, I and my companion were just visiting some potential
investigators and we came to the house of the part-member family’s home. We
knocked and as usual, they were busy putting their kids to bath. We had a nice
and short conversation and then left, not knowing how it affected some members
of the family. As we arrived the next person’s home as we had planned the night
before, we heard a vibration from the cell phone as we were saying a prayer. We
were wondering who it would be and it was the wife from that part-member
family. She is a non-member and she told us if there would be any scripture
that we would like to suggest. We were totally amazed! We were stunned by the
text that we weren’t expected but, at the same time we felt grateful and
humbled because of the presence of the Lord’s hand at all times. I know it was
His hands involved. I know that as we do everything that we can do that is
right throughout our lives, the Lord will show us His hands and we will also be
ready to recognize His hands. I know that He will never let us down.
Elder
Kasteler
About
half way through my mission I was teaching an old man named J, he was
suffering with health problems that caused him to need to have dialysis three
times a week. He was able to go to church once but over the next few weeks his
health declined to the point that he was basically house ridden. More than
anything he wanted to be baptized and go to church but he was not able to. I
looked at him and my heart was touched as I looked at how he had become someone
very special to me. I had seen the great
change in his heart as his testimony of the restored gospel became
powerful. I remember having the feeling
of sadness as I didn’t know what I could do to help him, as I sat there looking
at this great man that was then bed ridden due to a sickness. Tears came to my
eyes as the spirit testified to my soul the imponderable blessings of the
temple. I remember walking out of that room with a burning testimony of the
importance of temple work and the desire to do the work for that great man when
he is called back to his Heavenly Father.
Elder
Hales
On
my mission, I had the opportunity to contact a referral once with one of my
companions. We were headed to the
referral and we tried to knock the door.
The referral wasn’t there so we left just thinking we could come back another
time. So we were walking away
from the door and started to go tracting.
After about 20 seconds a girl about 22 years old came up to us and asked
us if were Mormon. We said yes! She talked about how her friend was on a
mission and how much he loved it and how excited she was for him. She also said that she wasn’t Mormon, but
she’s interested in learning more and she said she wanted to get baptized. We wanted to set a baptismal date right then
and there but we waited and arranged a member present lesson with her. She accepted the invitation and was baptized
3 weeks later. After this experience I
knew that although there may only be a few at a time, God prepares his children
that need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I was glad to be there to see someone have such a strong desire to be
baptized and stay strong in the Church.
Sister
Orellana
I
love being a missionary because it is full of joyful and learning experiences,
like the one we had with Y. Y walked in the Visitors Center a couple
months ago. She was not interested in learning about the church at all at that
time. However, she shared her information with me so I could contact her. So, I called many times, left messages until I felt that it was the right time
to go and visit her and leave her a note. As soon as she saw the note she called
me and left a message saying that she has been reading the Book of Mormon and
that she was ready to learn more. Ever since that time she met with us and months
later was baptized. She said that because we never gave up, today she is able
to feel our Savior’s love. I gained a stronger testimony that this is
where I needed to be along with my companion to help Y feel our Savior’s
love. I also learned to never give up
and to rely on the Lord to know when people are prepared to receive the gospel
of Jesus Christ in their lives.
Elder
Harper
It was just my second transfer in
the mission and I still wasn’t really sure on how to be a missionary. I was on
exchanges with someone in my district, in my area, and all of our plans had
dropped through. I wasn’t quite sure what to do or who to see, but a certain
family in the ward that we had talked about during a weekly planning session
came to mind. They were a part member/less active family where the wife was a
member, but the husband was not. They had 3 kids who were all members but
rarely came to church. I decided that we would stop by them and see if we could
help them out with anything. We went over and at first no one had answered the
door. I started thinking of who we could see next since this family wasn’t at
home. As we were just about to leave the house, the husband answered and
invited us inside for some water. He seemed somewhat depressed or sad but we
didn’t feel like we should ask him what was wrong . We asked him if his wife
was home, and he said yeah but she had had a rough day and was upstairs
napping, but said he would go and see if she would want to come down. A few
minutes later she came down and it was obvious that she had been crying. She
tried to talk to us like nothing was wrong, but only lasted a few minutes
without bursting into tears. She started to tell us how only a couple of hours
ago she learned that she had miscarried her unborn twins. We were able to offer
her a blessing and teach briefly the plan of salvation to her and her husband.
She later told us that our timing was spot on and that we were there when she
needed it most. That experience has strengthened my testimony that even when we
don’t know certain things, that God knows and he will put us where he needs us
at that time.
Elder Summers
My biggest spiritual experience on the
mission is probably of just learning to trust the Lord. I have had many lessons
taught where I was very nervous. As I am sure most other missionaries have as
well but I have definitely learned to trust those promptings that come to me
and to listen and how that has helped uncover concerns and even helped people
to understand gospel principles better. One such experience had was when we were teaching a family and
there kids kept asking questions about science and relating them to God and
telling us about how scientists did this and scientists say that and I thought
about it for a few moments and then a question and a direction came to mind and
I followed that by simply asking, “if scientists have been in charge of the
world and those things who is in charge of our souls?” the kid stopped thought about it and said
“God” simply yes, we got him, with the help of the spirit to understand that
scientists can’t answer everything but for those harder things God is there to
answer the bigger Questions.
I know that the Lord is there to help
us all we have to do is listen to the promptings he is giving us and follow and
the Lord will lead us down a better road.
Elder Reichman
While
trying to contact a former investigator, we ended up talking to his
step-son. He seemed interested, and we
set up another time to come back. Our
first lesson with him, he told us that he had been addicted to drugs for 22
years, but that about a week before we visited, he had decided to quit. He had been clean for about 5 days, and we
set up a plan with him to keep fighting his addictions. We started teaching him, and as we taught the
plan of salvation, we started teaching
about the Atonement. As he explained
what had happened to his life, I knew that Jesus Christ had suffered everything
for him. That he knew exactly what had
happened to him, and he had a plan for him.
Since the first day we met him, he’s been clean from drugs, has gotten
baptized and received the priesthood. It
was an amazing testimony that you can’t sink lower than where the Atonement can
reach.
Hermana
Snyder
An
experience that I recently had that increased my faith and testimony was based
on the power of prayer. In our Young
Single Adult Branch we were doing a missionary experience called “the
Twenty-one Day Promise.” This was based
off of the promise made by one of the quorum of the twelve that if we would
read our scriptures daily and pray for specific people in our lives one of them
would start taking the missionary lessons, be baptized, or return to
church. Our branch mission leader
challenged the members of the branch to write down names of people who they
knew that needed the Gospel in their lives or needed to come back to
church. Everyone was provided with a
calendar that had scriptures about prayer on each day, we would read the
scripture then pray for our names. We
decided to participate in this challenge, and every day for twenty one days we
read the assigned scripture and prayed for the people on our list. The very last day of the challenge was a
Sunday; we said our prayers before church and prayed for our list of
people. After reading the scripture and
praying we discussed the names on our list.
The challenge was over that day and we were very disappointed to see
that no one on our list had made any significant progress. However, a less active who had not been to
church for over a year who we had been praying for on our list came to church
that day! It was really amazing and I know that Heavenly Father heard and
answered our prayers.
Elder
Muse
On
an extremely hot day in the city of Los Angeles, my testimony was strengthened
as I was “dropped” by an investigator that my companion and I had prayed and
fasted for many times. Through this experience, I was able to feel a little bit
of how much God loves me and the rest of His children. As I walked to the car
feeling hot, confused, and a little depressed I thought to myself “why do I
feel so sad for someone who I barely know?” The Spirit helped me answer that
question as I was reminded of a saying my parents always told me. They said,
“When we pluck the rose, we find we often cannot avoid the thorns which spring
from the same stem.” I learned on that hot and memorable day that Heavenly Father
loves me, and he trusts me to love and teach others of that infinite and
eternal love He has for all of us.
Elder
Francisco
I
had many experiences but this one is unusual.
A 19 years old girl almost hit me twice with her car in different days
at the same light and for me would be the most awkward thing to talk with her
at the third time that we met each other in a park. I didn’t really know if I
should talk to her at first. My companion and I decided to say a prayer in the
car and the very first thought that came to my mind right after the prayer was
“why not?”
For
my surprise, she got baptized 1 month
and a half later and her whole family is preparing to eventually follow the
example of Jesus Christ as well, the Father, mother and all her siblings.
I
know that each one of us missionaries are sent for somewhere for a specific
reason and I learned that when we pay attention to the still and small voice
and have the courage to follow it miracles like that come to pass. I love my
mission!
Elder Brinton
We were one day walking down the road we had a guy sitting there
in his yard talking to his buddy, so we talked to him about the Gospel and he
told us that he wasn’t interested in our message, so we offered service for him
as we were leaving and he told us to come in and clean his house for him. So we
started to sweep his floor in the kitchen and then he told us that he was just
kidding, that then lead to a conversation about the Gospel, we gave him our
number and he told us to stop by on the weekend. We stopped by that weekend he
told us that he lost his number and he wanted it again. We walked away not
thinking that he would call us, then about 4 weeks later he called and told us
that he wanted to talk to us. Now we
are teaching him and he is progressing.
Elder Kim
My companion and I were tracting on the first day of transfers and
we knocked into a man named O. He has had a rough life and he told us of
his past and how he wanted to change his life. He told us that day we knocked
he was walking down the street and some guy was calling him names and telling
him some inappropriate things. Something held O’s tongue and he decided to
put his head down and keep walking to his home to avoid further problems. He
didn’t know what it was that held him back but he later found out that it was
the Holy Ghost. He prayed when he got home that day for help that he can change
his ways. He told us about an hour after he finished his prayer we knocked on
his door. He knew that we were the answer to his prayer and the Lord led us to
him. O was baptized 7 weeks after our first contact
with him.
Elder Powell
As I was on splits with a new missionary, we were talking to everyone that we saw. We
were just about getting in to our car after tracting and we saw this young
woman walking who didn’t seem too happy. She
was listening to her music so for some reason I kept asking her if we could
talk to her and normally after 3 times I stop but I didn’t for some reason and she
finally stopped and she said hi elders. She said she was a less
active and had been since 3 or 4 years after she and her brother were baptized. She said
because her dad died. I know that from this experience I will more fully be
engaging in not just talking with everyone but will get to know them so we can
go back over like withJ. So I know that as we truly do our best the
spirit will come and fill in and help out. It helps me see the importance even
more now to talk to everyone.
Elder Shannon
Last week we were teaching an inactive lady who desires to come
back into the fold of God. We have been visiting her recently and helping her
to read and understand the Book of Mormon. She is struggling to break many bad
habits in her life, one of them being smoking cigarettes. When we visited her
last week, she answered the door with a cigarette in her hands and the first
words out of her mouth were, “It’s been a worse week. I slid back into my bad
habits this week.” As we talked we learned that she had read the chapter that
she had been given and liked everything that she read. She felt that it had
helped her that day to read in the scriptures. We began to read in the Book of
Mormon with her in 1 Nephi 8, where Lehi had the vision of the tree of life. We
read, and explained what each symbol meant to her in her life. We stressed how
true happiness comes only in going towards the love of god by holding onto the
rod of iron. In the middle of the chapter, she had a nervous attack and stood
up. She said she couldn’t go another minute without a cigarette. We tied to
calm her down, but she wasn’t able to. I offered to say a prayer to strengthen
her against this addiction. She agreed and we offered a prayer that she would
be able to be strong and resist this urge to smoke. After the prayer, she
paused and said that she would be able to keep reading and listening. It was a
huge eye opener to me to see just how strong those chains of addiction are
around people’s necks. She was literally a slave to that addiction. And smoking
only made her feel worse about herself, which would cause her to smoke worse. I
also realized the power of a simple prayer can overcome intense temptation.
Elder
Warr
Back in my last area we had gone
a few weeks doing about average with our teaching pool. Plenty of people to
teach but only a small handful progressing. Me and my companion had a strong
desire to find someone golden to be baptized so we decided to think of
something that would take a strong step of faith to do. We had heard of stories
where some missionaries had picked a random name through prayer and prayed that
they would find someone with that name who would be prepared to be baptized. We
decided to pray for the faith to do that as well and in the next few days, came
together and prayed to find a name. We wrote down five names each and then
compared the lists we had. We had one common name: Maria, so, we decided from
that point on to search for Maria! One week later my companion was transferred
but I carried over our plan with my next companion and within a week, we ran
into a woman named Maria, who was in the USA visiting some friends and family.
She was very friendly and agreed to have us come back by. As we started meeting
with her, She felt the spirit very strongly as we taught the restoration and
said that everything she had wondered about religion her whole life was now
beginning to make sense. She committed herself to be baptized without us asking
and continued to progress and grow immensely in her excitement with the next
few lessons, always saying that these things were what she has been searching
for all her life. After a few weeks her time was up in America and she referred
herself through mormon.org to the missionaries in Belize where she was from, found
out where the nearest church was and got her soon to be bishops phone #. We
left her with a commitment and promise
that she would seek out the missionaries if they didn’t come immediately , hunt
them down and be baptized! I have no doubts that she did it!
Elder Taylor
Elder Hallan
An experience that has happened on my mission
that has strengthened my testimony happened on my mission but not in my mission
necessarily. I was sitting in Zone
Conference and the sisters asked for a referral. So I though really hard about who I could write
down. I caught myself saying the classic
phrase “I don’t know anyone!” how lame.
So I thought extra hard and wrote down the name of my cousin. She grew up around the church but never
in. So I wrote it down and sent it
out. I didn’t know what she would
say. But it turned out that my cousin
that week had a dream, and in this dream she was getting married in the
temple! She didn’t really know what it
meant so she called my mom. My mom took
her to the temple grounds and walked her around talking about what the temple
is and what happens in the temple. After
that my mom didn’t really know what to do. She, being from Utah, I guess hadn’t
had the opportunity to do this. Well
that next day after my mom took her to the temple, the sister missionaries called
up my cousin and talked about the gospel.
It couldn’t have been a better time!
She said yes and started to learn from the missionaries. I never would have thought that my cousin
would have a desire to learn about the church.
But the spirit whispered her name in my ear and luckily I heard it! The ending of the story is that on Easter
weekend this year my cousin entered into the waters of baptism!! She now has
entered into the gate and is on the path leading closer and closer to Eternal
Life!! The spirit is real! God will have
done the things he needs done. We just
need to be listening so we can be His hands!!
Elder Hallan
A great deal of my testimony has come from experiences I have had
based on the priesthood, especially with blessings. I remember a particular
time the Assistants to the President called and asked my companion and I to
give a blessing to a man who was just about to receive exploratory brain
surgery. If the surgeons did not find what they were looking for, he would die.
If they made a wrong incision, he would die. When we arrived to the hospital,
his wife was a wreck. Her level of concern was beyond that which I have seen in
my lifetime (allowing me to see what true charity is really like), and she was
crying one of those cries where she couldn’t quite seem to catch her breath. I
was asked to do the sealing and felt quite overwhelmed, having no idea whether
I would have to promise him life or death. But as they always do, the words came,
as did my tears, as I felt the priesthood power flow through me and promise him
the surgery would be a success, that the surgeons would be blessed to find what
they needed to, and that he would make a full recovery. The spirit and power I
felt at that time, as well as the love and concern the most powerful Being in
the universe has for His children was undeniable, as is now my testimony.
Elder Hardman
During my
mission, the times that my testimony has grown the most has been the times where
I have been pushed and faith has been tried.
The first couple months in my mission my companion and I were struggling
finding people to teach. We were studying the Priesthood and how as
missionaries we need to be focused on using the priesthood more often. My “greenie” hopes were crushed as we
searched and searched for opportunities to share this Priesthood Power with the
people in our area. For weeks we had no luck, but we kept the faith and kept
praying…because we all know that’s how miracles happen! At one point during a hot summers day, we
were walking along the main road and out of nowhere this black car comes flying
by , horn honking, and the drivers fist
waving in air…we thought we were being attacked, and in all reality we were! By
blessings from above! This man stopped us and with tears in his eyes he asked
us for a priesthood blessing, he had been praying to run into the Elders that
morning!! We were amazed how the Lord
blessed our lives by answering our prayers and that man’s life was blessed as
well. I know that the Lord listens to our prayers and that He has a specific
time and place for all of his miracles to happen! I learned that as we are diligent and
obedient, the desired blessings always come!
Elder Roberts-
While we were riding our bicycles, a man honked at us and waved us
over. We arrived at him and he asked us if we wanted to talk. We went to his
house and he told us all about his life and how his father had told him before
he died that he was a member of the church. This man told us that he wanted to
change and even gave us his pack of cigarettes to destroy. The following
Sunday, he came to church and then went to a baptism with us the following
evening. He has watched the Restoration movie 5 times since we left it with him
and he is already in the middle of 2 Nephi. We’ve been teaching him for about 2
weeks and he is scheduled to be baptized in a few weeks. Seeing this man’s
desires to change and become more like the Savior, Jesus Christ, has
strengthened my faith and determination to be the best missionary and member
that I can be in order to more fully help every person that I meet. So be
better than the day before and stop doing what doesn’t work.
Elder Sithole-
Frequently as missionaries we go on exchanges
and get the chance to be able to work with other missionaries and get trained
on how to best work and be effective in our calling. One of these times was
with a Spanish missionary and we were almost done with the night. We had worked
really hard that day and had found a lot of great potentials and new investigators.
All we wanted to do was to get home and prepare for the next day, we realized
that we had about 20 minutes to spare and had run out of ideas of things to do,
so we counseled and decided to go try a less active. We made contact with her
and found out that she was actually active in a singles ward. We invited her to
take a few mormon.org cards and invited her to pass them out. A few weeks later
I asked how that family was doing and we found out that she had passed out the
cards and now the missionaries were teaching her non member dad who has accepted
a baptismal date. I learnt that there is always something more than one can do
until we push our self then our faith gets strengthened. I am grateful for that
experience in that area with that missionary
Elder Satre-
I
have always believed that Heavenly Father guides us with his spirit. However, I
have never had an amazing experience with this until on my mission. My
companion and I went to an investigators house to invite her to church. We
started talking to her and asked if we could share a message. I was a little
nervous as we had not prepared a lesson for her. We started with a prayer and
my companion immediately began to talk about goals. I felt myself immediately
prompted to talk about baptism. To start I ignored this feeling. As the lesson
went continued, I as well talked a little about goals. However, that feeling
continued to bug me. I eventually followed the prompting by bearing testimony
that goals will help her become that person that she wants to be. I then
brought up the goal of baptism and how taking that step is such an important
step. Feeling the spirit I invited her to set a goal to be baptized. She did.
It wasn’t any time in the near future, but I know that following that prompting
helped her and also my own testimony.
Elder Penrod-
One
of the most powerful moments of my mission was when we got back from a District
Meeting It looked like it was about to start raining but we had an appt with a
referral we had contacted earlier. So we
started out anyway. Right as we start
riding away it starts pouring rain but we keep riding even though our
appointment is far. We finally arrive,
completely soaked. She lets us in with
her husband and lets us get warmed up.
We begin teaching and the spirit told me that we needed to invite her to
be baptized. At first I was a little
hesitant because I was worried she would say no, but the spirit told me again
so I went for it. She accepted! Then my companion set a date for her. After the lesson we were still wet but I
didn’t care because at that moment I felt so good that It didn’t matter. The wonderful thing about this story is that
she was baptized and I was the one able to do it. From then on I really realized what my
purpose was as a missionary was. It was to find the people like that. To find that joy even with all the other
problems that comes before it. It makes
it all worth it.
Elder Hoyt-
Many months ago I had an experience with an investigator we were
teaching. She was “golden” and was prepared to receive the gospel! One lesson
in particular really has made an impression on me. As we were talking, she
mentioned that whenever she reads or goes to church, she has a very warm
feeling in her chest that she can’t quite describe. My heart started to burn as
we explained to her what she was feeling. We invited her to be baptized,
expecting her to jump at the opportunity! However, she said no and she could
not commit herself to one church at this time in her life. Suddenly her
eyebrows scrunched together in a look of confusion. She said, “You know that
warm feeling I told you about? When I said no, it immediately left me.” I don’t
believe I have ever taught somebody as sensitive to the Spirit as she was! She
was later baptized and I can easily say it was the happiest day of my mission.
I am grateful for the time I was able to spend teaching her and watching her
testimony grow with mine.
Elder
Aguilar-
When
I first came in this area we received a referral. We received
a phone call from an Elder in Hollywood, he gave us the information and told us
that she was ready to be baptized; she only needed to come to church. The next
day we tried to contact her, and it seemed like we had a bad address. We called
the number we had and it was a work number. We tried multiple times and we were
never able to get a hold of her.
Time
went by and four transfers later we were walking down the street to go see an
investigator. As we were reviewing our lesson plans for that appointment, I saw
a piece of paper that was folded in fours with some writing on it. It caught my
eye and I had a desire to pick it up. I stopped and looked at it and I realized
how ridiculous it seemed for me to pick up “garbage” off the street. So we kept
walking. Again I heard the voice in my head: “pick it up”. So I stopped, but
shrugged it off one more time. We continued to walk when for the third time; I
heard that same still, small voice: “go back and pick it up”. I knew I could not ignore it anymore so I
walked back to get it. My companion looked at me very confused and asked: “what
are you doing?” I picked up the neatly folded piece of paper and carefully
opened it, wondering what I would find inside. It was a flyer for a
neighborhood watch meeting. I was confused and very puzzled wondering why that
was of great matter to me?
I
looked at the address and realized that it looked very familiar. The address
that was written on that paper was 12460 Lakewood. The address of the referral
we received 4 transfers previous was 12640 Lakewood. I told my companion that
this MUST be where L lives! We quickly went to the complex and I knocked
on the apartment number we received in the referral. We were informed that
L did indeed live there.
That
was an eye opener for me. I realized how the Holy Ghost speaks to us. It’s not
always a “try 12460 instead of 12640”. But the Lord really does work in
mysterious ways. We have to be humble and submissive to hear His promptings
that will lead us where He wants us to go.
Elder Boyd-
At the very start of my mission I was
extremely scared to talk to random strangers. I was new to the mission, the
language, and the concept of talking to people. My trainer would continually
talk to me about it and encourage me to just do it! But I was still extremely
timid. Finally I came to the conclusion that I just had to go off faith and
give it a try. I made a goal to talk to a certain number of people a day, but
when it came down to it I chickened out. I was having the hardest time. It was
strange. In lessons I would have no problem speaking Spanish and messing up in
front of members and investigators. But random people that I might never talk
to again scared me. After much study and prayer I finally decided that if I set
a goal then I would follow through on my goal. I set it. Finally, while walking
in the streets of LA I had my chance. I opened my mouth and spoke surprisingly
clear Spanish. The first person that I spoke to, on my own, immediately shared
her religious experiences of changing churches and agreed to have us come over
another day. I was so grateful that when I did my best to invite her to learn
more about the restored gospel, the spirit really was there and was able to
reach her heart.
Elder Spencer-
During my time in that area, one particular experience that I had with
J&C while teaching them stands out that increased my testimony of
following the Spirit, regardless of what we might think. During companionship
study one day, my companion and I were discussing if we should ever use the
Pearl of Great Price while teaching an investigator. I was decidedly against
it, owing to the fact that most people have a hard time accepting the Book of
Mormon, let alone the Doctrine and Covenants or the Pearl of Great Price. My
companion at the time was not opposed to using those books of scripture in a
lesson. That afternoon, we had a lesson with J&C We asked him
how his reading had been from the Book of Mormon. He had read the chapter we had assigned him
and he asked us many questions about why people go through hard trials and he
felt that he did not come into life to experience these hard trials and felt that
God had placed trials on us without our agreement. I felt strongly impressed to
read from a particular section in the Pearl of Great Price, talking about our
antemortal life with our Heavenly Father. After not heeding it once, I
recognized that it was the Spirit telling me to turn to that section and to
share it with him. After we had read the section with Jeff and explained what
it meant, he realized that before he was born, he had agreed to come down to
Earth and have experiences and trials that would help him grow. He also
realized that God loved him and knew of his life situation. After my companion
and I left the lesson, we discussed my seeming reversal from our earlier
discussion about using the Pearl of Great Price. I told my companion, “I felt the
Spirit telling me what to do, and I followed it.” I know that the Spirit is
there and testifies to our hearts what we ought to do in every situation. This
is the Lord’s work and He directs it. There is no doubt about that. I have seen
it and I know that miracles do occur in this day and age.
Elder Hernandez-
I would like to share an experience where I learned how to follow the
spirit and also I learned that the spirit works in a really simple way. We were
planning one night and we did not have any set appointments for the next day so
while we were planning we felt the spirit telling us to go and knock some doors
in one of the streets in our area, we planned for it and we did it. We knock
doors for a while and when we were about to go the spirit told us to knock the
door of the house behind. We knocked the door and this lady opened the door,
she invited us to come in and we got to know that she was a member(less
active). She had this rare sickness and one of the things that she was praying
for was the chance to teach her kids about God and the Gospel. We had the chance
to teach them and baptize her kids. I learned that day that the Lord works in
really simple ways but powerful. Now I strive to recognize the spirit and pay
attention to his promptings.
Elder Matheson
I’ve had some good lessons with members present, and we’ve had some
lessons that didn’t go so well with the members, due to whatever reason. I know
that the fellowshipping for investigators is extremely important and that
members are crucial, but sometimes members can take the lesson off track from the
plan or say unnecessary things. However, a few weeks ago we had a great lesson
with one of our investigators and it was because of the member we brought. Not
only was he an excellent teacher, but he showed so much love and concern for
the investigator that he helped reveal an issue she had that had been bothering
her for years. He then helped comfort her and help her overcome the mental
barrier she had in her mind of the issue. This member was prepared with the
spirit and he helped me gain a testimony of using members to teach.
Elder Peters-
I
have a testimony of the power of the temple and the blessings that it brings to
us. At the end of last transfer, I had
the opportunity to go with Elder Jahng to see a sealing of a family that he baptized
toward the beginning of his mission. Words can’t even compare to the feeling of
joy that we felt in that sealing room of the couple being sealed, and it
magnified so much when their children came in to be sealed to them. It just reaffirmed my testimony that the
family is our joy and our purpose in life—every living thing around us
testifies of that, and so does our Heavenly Father by giving us a plan so that
we can have our families forever and experience an even greater joy than we can
experience in this life.
Elder
Clements-
My
companion and I were visiting what we call an enternagator, which is someone
who just investigates for years, we taught a powerful lesson then invited him
to be baptized. He reluctantly agreed, but then changed the subject and left us
with his daughter, standing in the doorway.
She laughed and said “he’s never gonna do it, he will never get
baptized” a little discouraged I said “what about you? Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ,
and be baptized? She paused for a moment
then responded, “yes I think it’s about time.” Three weeks later she was baptized,
and now holds a calling serving with the young women.
Elder
Hsiao-
There is nothing as powerful as
working with the Spirit to see the change in someone’s eyes. We do a lot of knocking on doors as
missionaries, and often, we don’t get to see the fruits of that labor. I’ve learned so much that prayer and the
Spirit truly are on our side. After what
seemed like a year of tough luck in terms of finding people to teach, my
companion and I felt like we should knock on one particular street as we were
on our way home. We had been praying for
a family to teach. As we felt that
prompting, we acted on it and met a man and his family who seemed somewhat
friendly but did not allow us to share anything more than a brief statement
about who we were. We walked away after
leaving him our phone number feeling a bit pessimistic about his commitment to
call us as he hurried us off of his porch.
I now know that when we follow
the Spirit, it truly is a Liahona to us.
About two months later, we received a call from an unknown number. To our surprise, he had called back! He apologized for how busy he was at the
time, and he let us know that know he was free to meet, and that he’d love to
have us over! As we met with him, my
testimony was strengthened as I saw the difference that the things we taught
helped him in his life. The change was
visible! You could see it in his
eyes. Each time we went back, he had
progressed. I learned how the work of
the Lord moves forward, and that as we live worthy, we can be an active part of
this great work! He went from hesitantly
reading the outline of a prayer from a pamphlet, to communicating with his
Father in Heaven.
Elder Howard
Towards the beginning of my mission we had an investigator that had
been looking for the true church and one day decided to pray and ask God where
his church was. Within minutes of praying the Sisters showed up at her door. A
few days after finding this investigator the area was whitewashed and my
companion and I were put into the area. We then got a call from her asking us
when we were going to come over so we set up an appointment and she told us of
this experience which immediately strengthened my testimony of the Lord putting
his missionaries in the right places at the right times. As the time passed and
we continued visiting this investigator, she inevitably ended up having doubts
about what we were teaching. Every time she had these doubts she would start
praying asking for God to verify that what we were teaching was the truth. She
would mention to us that every time she had a doubt and prayed we would
unexpectedly show up to her house. This in turn reinforced her testimony that
this was the true church and also strengthened my testimony that this is the
true church and the Heavenly Father will always place us exactly where we need
to be.
Elder
Conder
One day, early in the transfer,
we were trying to follow-up on a potential investigator. As we were locking up
our bikes, down the street I noticed a woman who was looking interestedly in
our direction. She was outside working on her house with a couple of men. The
potential ended up not being home. We then decided to go and contact this lady and
see what she knew about us. (It was apparent that she knew something from the
way she acted when she saw us.)
We began talking to her and soon
figured out that the men were her brothers and one was a bishop in a ward in
another city. The lady, whose name is D., has been talking to missionaries
for a few months. She asked us to come in and talk with her.
We have been able to have some
very nice lessons with her. The most recent was a huge testimony builder about
prayer for me. The lesson was starting to go downhill. She was asking questions
that we were having difficulty answering, and her kitten was being very
distracting. We decided to watch the DVD of the Restoration with her to try and
clarify. She put her cat in the bathroom down the hall in hopes that it would
be less distracting; instead it intensified its meowing. Just before the First
Vision began I said a small prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to help Dinora feel
the spirit. I asked Him to help us know what to say afterwards.
After a few moments the cat was
silent. The First Vision began. The Spirit was so strong in the room. My
companion and I testified of the truthfulness of the gospel and could feel the
Spirit bearing witness through us.
I know that the Spirit was there
to touch us all. I know that God answers our prayers. I felt the spirit with
such strength that I have seldom felt before. God puts people in our paths. God
prepares a way. All we need to do is ask for his help.
Elder
Corbin Moore-
One of the experiences that I
have had on my mission that has helped me build my testimony, is one that I had
while we were trying to contact a former from the area book. We had tried a
couple of times to contact him, but never were able to find him. One day we
found him and he told us that he didn’t have time for us because he had to wash
his cars, but that if we came back at a certain time that he would be there. So
we came back and he wasn’t there. So we decided to come back one more time to
try and talk to him. He told us once more that he couldn’t do it that day, but
if we came back we could talk. My companion and I were talking it over to see
what we both thought about it. So we decided that we would just try once more.
I arrived with my district leader on splits, and he wasn’t there. I was pretty
bummed, so we started walking down the stairs, and just as we did, a man
emerged from the basement apartment. We talked with him for a little bit, and
found out that he was the step son of the former investigator. We invited him
to a Book of Mormon class the next night and he showed up. He was baptized 3
months later. I know that God puts us in the places that we are supposed to be
so that we can find the people that he has prepared for us.
