Hank: A Missionary Experience by hankjonesproject
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on September 9, 2010 |
The best thing that happened on my mission was…
not real sure. I don’t know that there is just one “best thing” that can happen on a mission. I suppose one of my absolute favorite experiences happened in my 4th area, Bowling Green, Kentucky. We were teaching a Spanish family named the Gonzalez’s. The father, Carlos, was an active member in his Baptist church, and was actually on the staff of the church. I believe he was in charge of the money or tithes or something. However, he and his family were extremely humble, and had expressed a desire to one of their Mormon friends to hear the lessons. We taught a first lesson to them. It went all right. I didn’t think much of it. It was hard to be extremely excited after a first lesson, because it was pretty rare to get past that. We came back a few days later to find that they had all done their reading as a family. We taught another lesson and they ate it up. Carlos told us that he believed everything we taught him, and it all seemed to square, for the most part, with his own beliefs. We decided to extend the baptismal invitation a couple days later. At that point, it was a few days before Christmas, and we wanted to set the date for around January 6th. So, not a whole lot of time, but we were bold, and knew that with faith, Carlos and his family could make the date. So we went over there and invited them to be baptized. Carlos was pretty hesitant. We knew he didn’t know absolutely everything, but that if he had felt the Spirit, that was all he needed. We told him that the date was soon, but we knew he and his family could be ready if they had faith to do what was right. We didn’t really get a clear answer from him during the lesson, and we were doubtful as to what he was going to do. After the closing prayer, Carlos got up and went into his bedroom and shut the door. We were confused, but continued making small talk with his wife and playing with the kids. Several minutes later, Carlos emerged from his bedroom, dressed in church clothes, grabbed his keys, and walked out the door, in somewhat of a hurry. We were pretty weirded out, so we asked his son Dublas what was going on.
“He’s going to his church to turn in his keys!” he told us.
Can you even imagine the joy and the relief that filled us when he said that? I was completely astonished. I don’t think I had ever met someone with so much faith! This man, despite not knowing everything, and certainly having not even received all of the missionary lessons, nevertheless acted on the simple yet powerful whisperings of the Spirit, and went and turned in his keys at his old church. The date was set, though the next couple weeks weren’t without some obstacles. The pastor at his old church tried to get him to come back, and fed him some anti-Mormon stuff as well, but we helped him through it and answered his questions as best we could. A few days later, amidst all the challenges he and his family were facing, we decided to give him a priesthood blessing. Somehow, it helped ease his stress, and also eased some pain in his back, caused by all the stress. Carlos, his wife, and his son and grandkids were baptized on January 6th, and throughout the next three months, more of THEIR friends and family members were baptized, and Carlos and his family were able to be sealed as a family in the Nashville Tennessee Temple in April 2009. I am still astounded to this day by the faith that Carlos had. This is one of several grand experiences from my mission that I will be forever grateful for. The church is true, and missionary work is the most genius idea that’s ever come out of it.
