This past week has been somewhat of a spiritual feast. We had 3 different meetings that President Camille Johnson & her husband spoke. First a Zone Conference with the Missionaries, 2nd a Regional YSA Sacrament Meeting, and 3rd a "Why I Believe" fireside for members & their friends. You might ask, how to we get the General Church Relief Society President to come to San Diego? I'm afraid I don't really know how we got her down here!! But it was delightful to hear from both her & her husband.
At the Zone Conference, we learned that Brother Johnson served as a young Missionary in San Diego many years ago when the San Diego Mission was leading the Church in baptisms! They told a very engaging story of how these many baptisms got started: Apparently Hartman Rector Jr was his Mission President at the time, and the Stake President by Calexico (down by the border close to El Centro, CA) called Elder Rector & said essentially that the Church was dying & was in desperate need of Priesthood Leadership. So President Rector sent his recently returned-Missionary son and Elder Johnson to go down to Calexico (with an air conditioned car - cause Calexico is HOT) & baptize more Priesthood Leaders! These two Missionaries set a goal to baptize 25 people in the month of July, notwithstanding there had been NO baptisms in that area for over a year! They pondered & prayed about this goal to try to come up with ways to baptize 25 people - they committed to exercise their faith by maximizing every minute & putting forth unheard of physical, mental, and spiritual exertion. They testified with power & asked everyone to be baptized. President Rector gave them a warning that to be careful, because Satan didn't want this to happen. Their goal statement was an act of faith in Jesus Christ.
They got to Calexico at the beginning of July and started to visit every member to invite them to Church. They talked to the Branch President, sang a hymn, and his companion said to the Branch President, "by the way, we are having a baptism on Sunday & we would like you to baptism him/her" Elder Johnson was flabbergasted because he knew they didn't have anyone to baptize at that moment! Then the miracles started to happen - they found a lady who had been previously taught the gospel but she had a bad knee and was mortified to be baptized, so they told her that they could baptize her in a lounge chair with a Missionary on both side of the lounge chair. The lady agreed to be baptized under one condition - that her Branch President would be the baptizer! There was the first miracle!
They found someone named Francisco who was an evangelical and passionate about spiritual things to help them find "investigators" They borrowed a big Van & told the Branch President to set up a hundred chairs for Church & then the Elders would drive around, picking up people & families and taking them to Church (early). They would then keep going out to find & get more people to Church until people were standing because there weren't enough chairs! After the inspirational Church service, they took people to the Branch President's house that had a pool & talked about the waters of Mormon in Mosiah 18. Several more asked for baptism including Francisco!
Then a week went bye without any baptisms, so they started to fast & pray. Towards the evening, they found a man who had come across the border. The man said that he was told in a dream the night before to cross the border & go to a park and there would be two Missionaries to teach him!
From then on, it was amazing; they continued to baptize converts until on July 31st they had their 25th baptism! Out of the 25 baptisms, 22 of them were potential Priesthood holders! Their faith in Christ had been tested & He had blessed them for their obedience & efforts.
So now it was August & they figured that if they could baptize 25 in July, they should set a goal of 50 for August! They got the members involved to help them find more people, and they found a lot of success with many of the migrant workers in the fields. By the end of August, they had baptized 53 more people, so they set a goal of 100 for September. They ended up baptizing 107 in the month of September.
Well, the other Missionaries in the Mission caught the vision, & pretty soon the Mission was baptizing thousands! I believe that the Lord loves obedience, effort, & strong faith in Him. Brother Johnson coined the phrase, "Obedience in the morning, diligence in the afternoon, brings miracles in the evening."
Tonight, Sister Johnson spoke at a "Why I believe" Missionary fireside - she gave a beautiful talk on her testimony of the restored Church of Jesus Christ & a powerful testimony of our living Prophet, President Nelson, the Book of Mormon, & the Prophet Joseph Smith. She quoted her ancestors, who knew the Prophet Joseph & testified of the mantle & Spirit that came upon Brigham Young as the Lord's next Prophet. I had the opportunity to play the cello accompanying the choir on a patriotic number & "I am a Child of God".
This afternoon, Sister Johnson also spoke to the YSA's at a regional sacrament meeting & gave a beautiful talk about covenants & preparing to go to the Temple even before going on a Mission or getting Married. She reminded the YSA's that they are children of God first, and even if Single, they are NOT alone!
As Debbie & I enter our last week as Missionaries, we look back & see the blessings of our Mission. Serving the Lord on this Mission has blessed our lives - we are better for it, and we hope that through us, the Lord has touched the lives of people we have grown to love!
No comments:
Post a Comment