My first cool experience of the week actually happened last monday right after we finished up p day. We were driving to an area where we were going to visit some less active members and see how they were doing. Normally we try to go to areas where members are kinda grouped together so we can get more done in less time. But this time we saw that a member was in an area where he was almost all alone. We felt prompted that we should go and give him a visit so we decided we would drop in and see how things were going. When we parked we checked LDS tools to see if he still lived there and he was no longer in LDS tools and normally when that happens it means they moved. So we assumed he probably moved and we were wondering if we should just move on and go visit other people. But we were wondering why we felt prompted to go visit him so we decided to go knock on the door anyway and see what would happen. We went up and knocked and a guy answered the door and just peaked his head out and we asked "Hey is this the R____ household?". And he said "Yes!" and then shut the door... Ummm what? After a minute or two he came back and opened the door and was like "Elders! Come on in how are you doing? Sorry I closed the door on you I had to put some clothes on"... *facepalm* So we sat down and started talking to him and getting to know him. It turned out that it was the member we were looking for and that reason he wasn't in LDS tools anymore was because he had converted to Judaism. He ended up teaching us a little about what he believed and taught Elder Burns how to speak a little Hebrew. He was a really nice guy and still knew a lot about our church but just felt like it wasn't right for him. We were wrapping things up and were about to leave when someone came in through the door and was like "Who are you guys?" It turned out that a friend of the R____ family from Austria is living with them. Her name is S___ and she came in and sat down and was super curious about who we are and what we believe. We explained that we are missionaries and explained what we believe a little bit and she was very interested! We asked if we could meet with her again and she said yes and that she wanted to learn more. It was a super cool experience and me and Elder Burns were very happy that we decided to listen to our prompting and go visit that house. Since then we have done a lesson with S___ up on the temple grounds and it went super well. She is reading the Book of Mormon and studying the restoration pamphlet and is now one of our most solid investigators. When we called to follow up on her Book of Mormon reading she said she read what we asked her to plus it was so interesting that she has read even more!
Everyday me and Elder Burns pray that we will be guided to find the people who are ready to recieve the Gospel and I know that our heavenly father answers our prayers. It also reminded me once again how important it is to have the Holy Ghost in our lives and to follow its promptings.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said,
"Worthy men and women who have the gift of the Holy Ghost can be edified and guided by inspiration and revelation. The Lord has declared that “the mysteries of his kingdom … are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him” (D&C 76:114, 116).
I know that as we strive to have the Holy Ghost in our lives and to listen to and act on its promptings that we will be guided to do the things that our Heavenly Father wants us to do. And as we do what we are supposed to do we will be happier in our everyday lives!
Have a great week!
-Elder Burgon
