The Rest of the Story
by Paul Christian
Last month in “I’m Going on a Mission”, we read about a reluctant missionary, Paul Christian, as he was transformed during his experience at the MTC. Like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress, Paul went on his mission to New York and saw many sights and people along the way that opened the eyes of his understanding and unloosed his burden as he helped to relieve that of others. His only desire was to serve the Lord faithfully. This is the story he told shortly before returning home after two years of diligent service.
It’s Christmas Eve. I’ve just had the best day of my life; the best Christmas I’ve ever had.— I’ve been dreaming of a white Christmas.
About four months ago, we had a missionary activity in the morning. While we were playing handball, a family passed by and I smiled and then they smiled, then I waved and they waved and then they looked back at us. I left a serve, picked up my notebook and ran over to them. All sweaty with my shirt untucked I said, “How are you doing? Where are you from?”
“Columbia,” they said.
“Cool! I’m a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We have a plan of happiness. Would you like us to come by and tell you about it?”
They accepted! —–We didn’t get in contact with them forever. We tried for three weeks on the phone with no answer. Finally we got a hold of them and went over. While there, we asked them to come to church and they said, “Well, maybe?”
“I’ll be waiting at the door for you,” I said.
We had been working with some other people too, but when we got to church that Sunday there was no one, no contacts showed, for the first time. I was feeling rather frustrated because I knew I had been doing my part and started asking the Lord, “Why,” and “What more do you want from me?” My faith was lacking. I had called all our people the night before and even in the morning before church we had gone to pick some of them up but were stood up, over and over again.
We decided to take the train to church to see if anyone had shown up. To our disappointment, no one had come.
“Elder,” I said to my companion, “let’s hit the streets.” We were not about to have a no investigator Sunday. We worked in the streets for about half and hour. I was on one side of the street and my companion on the other. He wanted to get back to church so he was telling me, “Come on, let’s go.” I signaled the opposite,– not without an investigator.
I said a silent prayer, pleading with the Lord for help, I knew I had done my part. —–I then received a prompting to return quickly to the church. —-Following that prompting, I signaled to my comp that we needed to go, —He was needless to say, happy. We walked into the church and one of the AP’s who was there, said, “Elder Christian, a miracle just happened, —a family came in looking for you, a huge family from Colombia and another investigator as well!!!”
We entered the chapel [as the meeting was ending] and greeted them all. The family said, —-“Well, we had to come, because we knew you’d be waiting for us.”
I excused myself and found a room where I could be alone to ask for forgiveness and give thanks. —I cried, and felt so bad for doubting the Lord. —-When you do your part, the Lord will always do his,—–ALWAYS.
We had eight investigators at church—-EIGHT, more than at any other time on my mission. Miracles happen.
We gave the family a discussion and were teaching them about prayer when the baby made a noise and the family, all of them real jokesters, started laughing. The spirit wasn’t strong after that. This didn’t discourage us. My comp and I went to see them a lot. During the second discussion, on baptism, they said, “But we’ve already been baptized.” We told them that
they must be baptized as Jesus Christ was baptized.
During the third discussion we talked about the apostasy and restoration. “We don’t see any difference in this church and our church,” they said. I replied, “Your church teaches a lot of good, however— the church is Christ’s and to be His, it must have everything that was in His church anciently, otherwise it is not His church.” I really never remember exactly what I say, I just speak the words that I am given. I bore my testimony after every principle that we taught that night, but the father, Juan, didn’t accept it and his wife, Janet, agreed with him, however, the children were all very willing. We gave the younger children, Shelby and Kevin a Book of Mormon for kids and they read it, cover to cover before we came again and loved it!
For two months we worked with them before we stopped seeing them, but I still kept praying for them.
One day, after prayer, I was prompted to visit them. When we went over, we said, “Christmas is coming and we want to give you a white Christmas.” The children said, “With snow? That’s cold.” I always did little things to make them smile. I also presented things over and over again so that in their minds they could get used to them. “No, no,” I said, “not with snow. There is a very special ordinance we do in the church, and you wear white suits, to perform it. The ordinance makes you clean. You must become clean to start on the path of happiness. I want to give you a gift, the best gift that I could give you, the gift of Baptism.”
The next Sunday they came to church and we gave them the fourth discussion, the plan of salvation. They liked the idea of being together forever as a family. We took the father and mother aside, and gave them the fifth and sixth discussions, without the children. When we talked about tithing, Juan, burst into tears. He was a carpenter and had lost his job. —He didn’t even have money to buy Christmas presents, how could he pay tithing? —Things had not gone well for him since we had stopped visiting with them. [I had been praying and asking God to bless him with something that would humble him so that he would be receptive.] I told him, “The Lord will bless you as you do your part.” Juan, said, “Okay, Christmas Eve we will be baptized.
They arrived at the church on that sacred Eve. Shelby was so sick; she had been throwing up, but she was not sick at all after her baptism. Kevin had been scared before, but after, wanted to be baptized again! Lorena the seventeen year old daughter had always been a good girl, no drinking and smoking or other things, and was so happy. The baby, Ashley had not interrupted. Father and mother had finally felt the influence of the spirit and had trusted in it; their was peace in their minds and joy in their hearts as one by one their family members came forth from the waters of baptism.
—-Today Juan, Janet, Lorena, Shelby, Kevin—–all took the step to be baptized,–while baby Ashley looked on and angels attended. This is the happiest day of my life. I can’t explain it. I’ll do anything for them. I love them; I love this work; I love it! It is the best, there’s nothing better. I promise you there’s nothing better! I always dreamed of a white Christmas and I’m so thankful to the Lord that he blessed this family with the whitest Christmas they could have had. God is great. The power of prayer is real. The church is true. I know it. I feel it.
Editors’ Note: Submit your missionary stories to our Meridian Missionary Journal editor, Peggy Proctor at mi***************@me**************.com
2001 Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
