Tuesday, August 11, 2009
BAPTISMS and MIRACLES
I thought it would be interesting to let everyone know how often we have baptisms. Each week at our staff meeting on Wed., we get a print out of scheduled baptisms for the week. Last week there were 7, the week prior 9, and the week before that 6. There are currently around 60 investigators who have said they would accept the invitation to be baptized. They are working on final lessons, commitments, and interviews for these people. The missionaries here have done a wonderful job of finding and teaching people who are searching for the gospel in their lives. Their are many more investigators that have not accepted the invitation yet, but hopefully will. We have had so many wonderful experiences happen to our missionaries and we love hearing about them. Yesterday Elder Henrie and Elder Ray called and told us a wonderful story. He and his companion were out tracting with a ward member. They knocked on a door and a man answered and invited them in. He told them he had read the Book of Mormon and knew it was true. He pulled out his book and sure enough it was all marked up. He said he was just waiting for some missionaries to find him and that he had been praying for them to come. My goodness, can you believe what a great tracting experience that was for them. They said the ward member was amazed. They are going to give him the lessons now and I'm sure he will be baptized. Another Miracle.
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I love your blog. Elder Henrie is my son and here is a little bit more about the story you mention here. From his letter;
ReplyDelete"The man told us his name was Richard and that he had read a book that he believed was just as important as the Bible; if not, more important. In my mind, I asked if he could possibly be talking about the Book of Mormon. His answer stunned me.
"It is so important; they should have put it in the Book of Mormon."
What could it possibly be? I was confused.
"It is the book written by Abraham when he was in Egypt."
He then started to tell us how God showed Abraham many of His creations. This boggled my mind. This man has read the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price! He has also read the book of Moses! How did he get his hands on a copy of the Pearl of Great Price?
I still don't know the answer.
He then told us how Israel wasn't keeping their covenant with God, and so God destroyed Jerusalem by Babylon. This man told us how a prophet name Lehi took his family from Jerusalem because God had warned them. Later on, they went back to Jerusalem to get what Richard called "The Covenant" because he didn't want the "covenant" destroyed. Richard was talking about retrieving the brass plates from Laban.
Richard went on to tell us other stories of the Book of Mormon such as Nephi building a boat. He also told us of Ether!
Richard told us that it is his mission to get other churches to believe in this book.
How did this man know so much about the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price? Richard gave us his account how he used to study with the missionaries in Bealeton, Warrenton County, Virginia. He then moved to Culpeper two years ago and had lost contact with the missionaries, and the church.
In those two years, he had read the entire Book of Mormon. He couldn't find the church and wished he could. This man lives within a quarter of a mile of the church! How could he have missed it? However, he doesn't drive.
About two weeks before we met Richard, Jehovah Witnesses were on his street. After they had left, he wondered if the Mormons would ever come again. He must have prayed hard, because we showed up.