Blogger of Jared

One aspect of Mormon Culture that I love is Missionary Stories. I think these stories are important to our religion, and should be celebrated. Sometimes I hear people lament that comments in SS, EQ, or RS too often begin with “When I was on my mission…[insert spiritual experience.]” Personally, I am grateful for the personal experiences shared. I’ve decided that of all the things I could add to the BoJ, these may be best. So my goal is to do some mission stories for the next week or so. Then Maybe I’ll do some conversion stories. Anyway, here is a good story from my mission.Â

When I was in my second area, we got a referral for a family the sister missionaries had contacted at a fast food restaurant. In my mission, these type of referrals were typically impossible, because the directions were bad, the countryside was hard to navigate and the people who lived more than a five minute walk from our Church typically did not go to church due to financial constraints. But my companion was this notorious do-gooder, you know, the type that annoys people on airplanes by trying to talk about the Gospel with them, can’t make it to an appointment on time because he is street contacting someone, and gets up at 5am. (As an aside, yes we did have some talks about this and we channeled that energy in more positive directions.) In short, he was awesome. So we hopped on the back of a motorcycle (Ok, so it wasn’t really a motorcycle, more like a dirt bike or moped, and yes seeing a grown man drive two missionaries around on the back of a moped is pretty funny looking, but that’s how you go to the mountain areas in the Philippines) and off we went. 15 minutes later, our rears were sore from the rocky terrain, but we were there, and we had, amazingly enough, found the right place.

The family was completely disinterested. I said an Internal prayer that this trip not be a waste, and we left their house. I was internally battling myself about how this trip was a waste of time logically, and how I needed to exert faith and eliminate doubt. A woman came up to us, somewhat excited. She said her brother wanted to see us. His name was Georgie. She took us to his house (which was next to the house of the referral) and had us wait there. (He was at work. He chopped down trees for a living with a chainsaw he was provided by his employer.) 10 minutes later, he comes in, having left his work to come see us immediately. He tells us that earlier that day he had prayed that God would send him missionaries from our Church and that several years before he had taken the discussions and two of his daughters had been baptized. He also tells us that his son had been dying from not breathing, the missionaries had given the boy a blessing, and the boy was immediately healed. He tells us he wants to join the Church, but his wife hates the church and further, they live in the mountains and can’t afford to get to town. We have a good talk, but we are concerned because we can’t get him to church.

We start walking down the street, and internally I am having a battle between the faith of having such an amazing experience with this man and the doubt that he will get to church. My companion and I talk about it and say a little prayer. We feel a prompting to go up to a house we see just up the road. (In the mountains in the middle of no-where.) A woman answers the door and she is excited to see us. She says she is a member of the Church and that she goes to church every week, but with her mother, who lives two hours away. Her husband is not a member, but he drives her to church every week. (Keep in mind, the odds of meeting someone who owns their own car in the Philippines is about the same as meeting an American who owns his own jet.) We tell her about her neighbor, and ask if she can help us. She says she will look into it.

Months go by, Georgie’s wife Sabrina opens the book of Mormon one day, and reads in there that God wants her to stop being mean to her husband and that she should Join the Church. (I don’t know which verse in the book of Mormon says that to this day.) Georgie’s Family, Georgie’s Neighbor’s Family, Georgie’s Sister’s Family, Georgie’s Brothers, Georgie’s Neighbors two Children’s Families, Georgie’s other neighbor’s family, and pretty much everyone else who lives in the neighborhood, EXCEPT the family that was referred to us, gets baptized. The Woman’s husband, who is not a member and who’s name is Boy, drives them all to Church, sits in the car, and waits. He is very shy.

I finally get an opportunity, with my new companion (He was Samoan and had an amazing gift for healing blessings, we gave more healing blessings where people were actually miraculously healed than I’ve ever experienced with anyone else, ever.), to talk with Boy. We talk about going to Church, trying to dig around for what his concern is. Finally it comes out. He asks us “Can you wear shorts to church?” I answer yes, you can. He goes to Church the next Sunday, and after Sacrament meeting, when the Bishop explains where Sunday School and Primary are, the Bishop asks “Are there any questions?” Boy steps forward and takes the opportunity. He says “When can I be baptized?” And that’s how one “bad” refferal lead to over 40 baptisms in a 10 week period.

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