NUMEROUS CONVERTS



A friend told me that:


“In our area in South America, the missionary work was both unusual and astounding, not only in the quantity of baptisms but also the procedures. The mission president got permission for the local members to be called as full time missionaries and to go out into secluded areas dressed in their native outfits. White shirts and ties were our culture and did not fit their culture, at least among the people called, “Otovalainians.” Specifically, a missionary named Tobango would need to know where he could find people to teach. He would pray for inspiration and then receive answers to his prayers by way of dreams.


He would then be gone for a couple weeks and bring back the records of about one hundred and fifty baptisms. American Elders would visit those places and provide leadership training for these new converts until they were ready to stand on their own. This cycle of finding, baptizing and training happened repeatedly.


Unfortunately, as with most things in life, dramatic missionary success also brought dramatic opposition. Sometimes revolutionary mobs would gather and shout, “Death to the Gringos, Death to the C.I.A.” They would tell everyone that would listen that these young missionaries were really spies for the American government. If we were caught, we were beaten, or worse.






When this type of activity was going on we were told to go to our missionary huts and stay there till things quieted down. Sometimes the mob would be between us and our huts. Again and again they would swear our demise and yet not see us as we walked right by them. I know that God protected his missionaries many times.”

UNUSUAL BAPTISM


A missionary told me the following: 




It happened way up in the Andes Mountains. We felt impressed to teach an older man the missionary discussions. After giving him the first lesson on the plan of salvation, we gave him a reading assignment from the Book of Mormon. He said he did not know how to read and we told him of some sister members who would read the assignments to him.


A few days later we asked him if the sisters had read the assigned pages to him. He said they had not but since we were with him again we asked if we could give him the second discussion and he agreed. As we showed him the picture of the Angel Moroni visiting Joseph Smith, he suddenly exclaimed, "that’s the angel that taught me how to read!"


It seems that the Angel had visited him three times and instructed him. He was baptized a short while later and as time went on, he told us of several spiritual experiences he had with others beyond the veil.  Later he and some others were privileged to meet President Kimball and this brother's story was featured in the Church News.

The Law of Consecration




A friend told me the following:


I was raised in the Church by good active parents and at 19 years old, I was called on a proselyting mission to Austria. I had only been out for a short time when I sustained a serious back injury while riding my bike. I was sent home immediately and the Doc said that I had been born with three back vertebrae not properly connected and this would require surgery. I was in the hospital for about one year, nine of those months with a body cast from my shoulders to my thighs.


Since then I have had eight other serious back surgeries, always telling myself that it would be my last. The pain from these and other related maladies has been very excruciating at times but God has always blessed me to survive them.


Not long ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer but treatment put it into remission. My wife has a serious heart condition so she frequently relies on me for help. Sometimes, especially a night, my pain is so bad that I cannot sleep and will walk about trying to lessen the discomfort.


Through it all, I have been employed full time and served in many Church callings, always relying on God to support me by way of Priesthood blessings and obedience to His commands. People have asked me, especially when I was Bishop of the ward, why I would accept such time consuming responsibilities with my health challenges.


I remind them that in Holy Places we make sacred covenants under the Law of Consecration. We pledge our all and He promises to help us. I have been blessed many times, having complete faith that He will prepare a way to accomplish whatever He commands and that has sustained me through many rough spots.

THE RED DOOR

A friend of mine told the following story:

While I was on my mission in South America, I was transferred to another area. The bus I rode had a low ceiling and as I sat there, I had to hunch over for several hours. The heat was stifling and the humidity almost unbearable. The vehicle was crowded with people, their baggage and all sorts of farm animals and the smells generated by all these was enough to make one swoon.

By the time I arrived, it was late afternoon. I no sooner got off the bus, than my companion suggested that we go tracting and knock on some doors. I was just a little less than jubilant at the prospect. We came to a house with a red door and my companion said, “Give your door approach and let’s see what happens.”

I knew my Spanish was not that good but I gave it a try anyway. Remarkably the family invited us in, more out of curiosity, I suspected, than anything else. My companion began giving the first discussion and as he did so the husband and wife began to argue with him. After a while the argument began to be heated and suddenly, in my mind, the Spirit said, “Bear your testimony.” I thought, I can’t, my Spanish is too poor. This happened twice more and I answered the same. Finally I opened my mouth and out came the most perfect sounding Spanish I had ever rendered. I said, in part, I know the Church is the Church of God and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet.

The husband and wife stared at me and suddenly stopped arguing. They began to listen politely. The next week we baptized their family of seven.

GRINGO LIARS

Not long after the red door incident, we visited a home that consisted of a mother and her three teenage sons. We gave her the first discussion, which was the plan of salvation and then told her to ask God in prayer if the “Gringo Liars” were telling the truth. A few days later we began to teach the woman and her sons the second discussion on Joseph Smith, when the woman interrupted us and said she needed to tell us about a dream she had.

She had prayed to know if we were telling the truth and then went to sleep for the night. She dreamed she was in the room with the Savior Jesus Christ and that he was a few feet away from her, writing at a desk. She approached him and asked if the Gringo Liars that had been teaching her had spoke the truth. He looked up, smiled at her and told her that the words we had told her were true and that we were his servants. She and her sons were baptized soon after.

Later, the Spirit prompted us to go to a particular home and knock at the door. We did so and were invited in. As we taught the opening discussion, we could see all sorts of pornography on the walls in front of us and so we looked away. We could not make direct eye contact with the family because of the pictures depicted; however, we were invited back for the next discussion.



Many of the pictures had been taken down and eventually they were completely removed. The Spirit could now work with the family and they prepared for baptism. Several of their neighbors and friends became interested in the Gospel and we baptized many in that area.


Shortly after, I was transferred out but came back for one more visit before I left. I can still hear in my mind the shouts of the children when I returned. They called my name again and again and I was greeted with hugs and smiles to the point of tears. I imagine this is how it will be when we return to our Heavenly Home.