Wow...This had to be the most insane and
miraculous week of my mission and if not then it is certainly one of them.
Let me tell you a little bit about Hannah
and her quest in seeking to find and know Jesus Christ and to follow Him and
the pure and absolute miracle of conversion that has transpired for her and in
her over the last 3 weeks.
Sometime prior to May 5, Landon arrives to
Oklahoma as a summer sales representative and through a funny story is able to
meet Hannah but only through skype.
Saturday May 6: Hannah and Landon meet in
person for the first time and Hannah notices something different and special
about him for a number of reasons so she inquires about it and he is able to
offer a simple and somewhat casual testimony/response which led to her telling
him that she wanted to come to his church, check it out, and learn more because
she was just intrigued.
Sunday May 7: She came to church with him
for her very first time in an LDS church service, Landon introduced us to her
and she absolutely loved every minute of the entire three hours. (Unexpectedly,
that morning, without us or Bishop knowing that Hannah would be coming to
church that day, Bishop texted us and asked us to teach gospel principles class
which was essentially on the Restoration of the gospel and Church of Jesus
Christ.) She was mesmerized by it all and later asked Landon if she could come
back with him the next week.
Sunday May 14: They came together again and
after gospel principles class we were able to sit down with her and had our
first lesson together and it was one of the most spiritual visits I've ever
had. She asked us a lot of questions which we worked at answering and
essentially just ended up talking about Christ and His power and about the
miracle of conversion in which we were able to share personal stories of. She
would make comments such as "I'm not saying I am converting, yet,
but..." or "Growing up my faith would teach ..... but I love that you
believe ....." and other things similar to that. We left, simply inviting
her to read 3 Nephi 11 from the Book of Mormon. In a Spirit guided fashion, we
told her that we wouldn't invite her to convert or to be baptized at any time
unless we were absolutely overwhelmed by the Holy Ghost because we knew and
were confident that she would feel the Spirit and be invited by the real
teacher, when the time was right and when she was prepared to take that step
and it would be something that she would just want to do to follow Christ and
commit to Him.
Monday May 15: We had a lesson all together
at Landon's apartment and once again had an equally spiritual visit as we
answered more of her questions and talked about accepting Christ's invitation
to throw the net to the other side, to love Him, feed His sheep, and to follow
Him. She had read 3 Nephi 11 and continued reading through to 4 Nephi. We invited
her to continue reading and praying.
Tuesday May 16: We had another lesson all
together at Landon's apartment and taught about our Heavenly Father's plan for
our salvation and happiness and success and she loved every second of it and we
had, yet again, such a powerful and spiritual experience together and it left
me stunned. She had read from the Book of Mormon for over 3 hours that day out
of her own personal curiosity and desire. We invited her to continue reading
and praying and she would make comments such as "I think it is just the
greatest thing in all the world that you believe we can be sealed with our
families for eternity" with the biggest, happiest smile from ear to ear.
The rest of the week she had job interviews
in Chicago and Edmond because she just graduated college that week with a
graphic design degree so she kept reading and praying and pondering on her own
and talking with Landon and doing all she could to continue learning more. At
various times her father would send her some anti-Mormon things simply out of
love for her and because he doesn't know what we really believe but only what
he had heard from others and from online. None of it ever phased her though
because she was learning and seeking for herself and asking us all of the questions
and seeking the guidance and inspiration of our Father in Heaven.
Sunday May 21: They came to church for the
third time together and that night we met at the temple and sat on the steps of
the temple as we had, yet again, one of the most spiritual visits I could
imagine and had experienced. She had begun saying things like "Our
faith..." or "I used to believe ...." and she would talk about
"conversion" and "baptism" and ask questions about those
things. We answered more of her questions and continued teaching the doctrine
of Christ and we, still hadn't invited her to baptism but it was apparent that
the Spirit had already touched her, pricked her heart, and invited her to be
baptized so we inquired about her feelings and, being absolutely overwhelmed by
the Spirit, followed up her words of desire and commitment by encouraged her to
pursue this course and to do as the Spirit invited her to do just as Alma
invited the people at the waters of Mormon to be willing to bear others burdens
that they may be light, to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that
stand in need of comfort, stand as a witness of God at all times and in all
places and to clap her hands for joy because this was exactly the very desire
of her heart.
Monday May 22: Hannah's father sent her a
lot of online anti-Mormon things which stated that we in no way were Christian
but instead that we worship Satan and praise Joseph Smith and think we could
replace God and a number of other things and we had emailed and told our
Mission President, President Mansell, about her and we talked with him about
what was going on and he actually lives in Edmond also and invited us and
Hannah and Landon to come over to his house for a lesson that night so that's
what we did. We addressed some of Hannah's questions and she said "I know
it's true and I believe it and I am only asking the questions so when other
people ask me what I believe or about our faith I can tell them the answer like
how you have been doing it for me." She didn't have any concerns, no doubt
about any of the things she had been sent and heard. In 8th grade she was at a
Bible camp and read Matthew 5:48 which reads "Be ye therefor perfect even
as your Father in heaven is perfect." She saw that it said perfect and
asked one of the camp ministers about it and he told her not to ask questions
like that and that perfect didn't really mean perfect like God but instead that
it is absolutely impossible for us to be perfect like Him. She shared that with
us after we had already gone over the beautiful doctrine of Deification and she
was astonished and so pleased that the question she had asked in 8th grade was
finally answered and that the answers came from the scriptures and that it made
sense and felt right. We talked about a number of other things and concluded by
watching Elder Holland's April 2016 General Conference address "Tomorrow
the Lord Will Do Wonders among You" and it was such a spiritual experience
once again. It was amazing how President Mansell was able to say just a few
short things and offer a fatherly perspective and give that kind of advice and
comfort and counsel.
Tuesday May 23: She went back home to Fort
Worth Texas with her family. She learned that she received both of the jobs
that she had interviews with in Chicago and miraculously everything was smooth
and loving and went well with her family.
Thursday May 25: We received a phone call
and learned that Hannah wanted to be baptized that weekend. In a state of awe
and excitement and thanksgiving and praise at the hand of the Lord in Hannah
and each of our lives, we began making all of the plans and the arrangements
for her baptism to take place on Sunday, May 28.
Friday May 26: We had another lesson all
together in Landon's apartment and in standard fashion the Spirit was so
powerful and tangible and we were able to have a beautiful visit, talking about
the last three weeks and the miracle of each event and about the requirements
of baptism and going over the questions of the "baptismal interview"
(really it's just a sacred and spiritual testimony meeting that a missionary or
the mission president gets to be apart of). By this point she has read over
half the Book of Mormon and has it all marked up with incredible insights and
we invited her to read Joseph Smith History and to look for the nature of God
in this account of what is, in all reality, the second most sacred and most
important event that has happened in the history of the world, after the first
and greatest and most important event that of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ in Jerusalem. She told us that she wanted President Mansell to baptize
her so we got to listen as she called him and asked him to baptize her and you
could hear him begin to cry and he said he would be honored and so happy to do
that and that he was so proud of her. After they hung up she sat for a moment
and began to tear up as she expressed that she really enjoyed and needed to
hear that he was proud of her as a kind of father figure because her father
isn't supporting her in this and hasn't said that he is proud of her and it was
such a tender and spiritual moment to feel that kind of love that surpasses all
natural love and moves into the realm of pure and true and Christlike love that
only our Father can give.
Saturday May 27: We met Hannah at the
church and talked about the Joseph Smith story and how it all points to God and
how it restored and helps us to understand His character and nature. She then
had her interview and we went to Landon's apartment for one last, wonderful
visit before her baptism the next day. The most powerful
words that I've ever heard out of an investigator came in a request that she
made to Landon, Elder Burrows, and myself. I won't go into them yet, because
she also made the same request to everyone who attended her baptism.
Sunday May 28: They came to church for the
fourth time now and it was exactly 21 days from the day we first met her until
then. It was another incredible church experience and it was amazing, the
lesson in gospel principles was all about baptism. It wasn't man inspired and
worked out just too perfectly to merely be a coincidence.
President and Sister Mansell invited Hannah
and Landon and Elder Burrows and I over for dinner at their house before the
baptism so we went there for dinner and then left to the church for the most
spiritual baptism I've ever been apart of. After she
had gotten dressed in white we went to take some pictures and she just broke
down. She was so happy. She walked about half way down the hall from us and
just fell on her knees and started praying. She is a miracle. She asked for
some time to get up and speak before the baptism was preformed, and when she
did so she rocked everyone's world. She read
out of Mosiah 18 specifically, these verses:
10 Now I say unto you, if this be the
desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the
Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him,
that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his
Spirit more abundantly upon you?
11 And now when the people had heard these
words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of
our hearts
She bore such powerful testimony that she
was clapping her hands for joy and that this was the intent
of her heart. She then made the request. She asked that her story be told, but
insisted that it was for a specific purpose. She asked that we never share her
story to glorify Her, or Landon, or us as the missionaries who got to teach her,
but that we share her story as a testament that people can change and hearts
can be softened and to glorify our Savior Jesus Christ and our Father in
Heaven. She insisted that she would never be a Mormon. She insisted that
all she wanted was to learn more, but as she read the pages in The Book of
Mormon, as she prayed and received answers to prayers, as she sincerely
attended church, the Lord changed her. In 3 weeks, to the day, the Lord changed
her. That is why I just wrote you all this novel (Sorry about that). I testify
that people can change, and hearts can be softened. I wanted you all to hear
her story so that I can make it very clear that I know that He lives. So I can
make it very clear that I know that the power of Christ's atoning sacrifice is real.
He is the Master Teacher. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. I hope
you can feel the same and I hope that you can feel how much I love being a
missionary. I can't believe the miracles that have happened in front of my eyes
and I can't believe how fast the end is chapter is coming. This work is the
Lord's, He lives and His love suffereth long,
and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth
in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye
are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which
is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—But charity is the pure love
of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the
last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto
the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love,
which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus
Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we
may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. Of Jesus
Christ whom has changed me and whom I represent and of these simple truths I
know, feel, and bare solemn witness of.
Keep the faith,
Elder Ricks
