As I read these missionary experiences that the president put in his weekly letter this morning I was touched by the spirit. Sometimes I get so caught up in the details of the office I forget that it is all being done so the missionaries can go out and help people change their lives and come unto Christ.

“New Investigators are praying for us to find them, we must talk to everyone to find them:

 

“We had just left a difficult blessing … After leaving , we turned the corner to a new apartment complex and saw a couple sitting on a table outside. They had a large dog and were drinking a beer and smoking. I was feeling a little timid, but decided that we needed to contact them and was smiling and walking towards them as we introduced ourselves as Representatives of Christ. The husband accepted the blessing while the wife just couldn’t stop saying, “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it”. After our previous experience we were afraid she was thinking that she couldn’t believe that the Mormons had come to bother her too, but after we talked to them she told us how they had followed Christ, but they had wondered astray. That they were on the verge of homelessness and had just been praying for help when we turned the corner and walked straight to them. We blessed them and testified that God was aware of them and sent us there to bless them. They accepted baptism and were confident that it was the path God had given them to bless them. I love to be an instrument in God’s hands and to testify of his power and love.”

 

New Investigators are being found as you “Pray, Plan, Practice, and Do” and create a better way to approach and link the blessing to teaching:

 

“We started approaching our Harvest blessings this week- with the night before we went out. We started picking a place to harvest during nightly planning instead of just blocking out a time- then the next day, before we would leave the apartment, we’d pray for guidance for a place to harvest, study our map, pick a place, then close with a prayer again. And man- we saw a dramatic shift in the blessings we left. The people we were led to were so prepared and waiting for our blessing each time!! We’d gone from leaving a ton of blessings with mediocre responses to the spirit the previous weeks, to so many of our brothers and sisters absolutely not being able to deny that we were sent to them. And each blessing was exactly what they needed right at that time. We were led to Danielle, who immediately sensed there was something special about us right when she opened the door. She stopped everything she was doing- put out her cigarette, got off the phone, and made time for us, as representatives of Christ, to leave her with his blessing for her. She said right away, she desperately needed his strength- she felt so lost and confused- and as we finished the blessing, she was so filled with relief and love and hope! She accepted to be baptized on the 13th of January- she is so ready to be healed and forgiven- and ready to move forward!”

 

New Investigators understand the language of the Spirit:

 

“One night we were having a really hard night, and all of our plans fell through. We went to see this lady who was a referral and that didn’t work out either. As we were walking back to our car my companion said lets go talk to that guy. And I said… ‘Sister, He doesn’t speak Spanish.’ I know we are supposed to talk to everyone, but I was selfish and wanted to find an investigator for us. She ignored me and went to go talk to him. I’m so grateful she is in tune with the Spirit! We found out that he was deaf. So we passed notes back and forth. We blessed him and invited him to be baptized. He accepted and said he would come to church. We weren’t really sure what would come out of it. We tried to see him Sunday morning and weren’t able to, so we just left a note on his door reminding him to come to church. During church this member came up to me and said …there was a deaf man looking for me and my companion. We were so happy that he came! He is amazing. He is excited to be baptized for the ‘first time’.”