Title: The Secret of Faith
When
I was still in Breda in my first transfer, we had that really cool
investigator, Idaho. Remember her? Anyway, I remember when she was
having a problem with faith. She just asserted that she didn't have any,
and she didn't feel it growning even though she was reading in the Book
of Mormon and praying. I thought of my swimteam days and how I would
always say "I wont win" or "I probably wont beat my time"or something
like that. People would always say "well, not with that attitude, you
wont."And see, I never felt that. I could say that before a race and
then at the finish of the race, come in first having beated my time.
Mostly, what I said the result would be and what the actual result was,
never really correllated.
It was in the
moments of preparing to teach Idaho that I learned that faith isn't in
what we say, it's about what we DO. I could say the whole day "I don't
think I'll win/beat my time" but what the actual thing is--do I let that
belief or that fear keep me from getting in the water and swimming with
all my might? It didn't. And THAT'S how my faith was shown. Not by the
words that came out of my mouth, but about the action I did. Faith is
often times not manifest in what we say, but what we actually do.
So, now we can
fast forward to when I got transferred to Assen. The place that had been
closed and re-opened repeatedly. The place that had just about nothing
when I got there. My turning point. The place that I learned to work
hard so that at the end of the day, I could look back and honestly be
able to ask the question "what more could I have done for my vineyard?"
We
were biking one day. I think we were on our way home to eat lunch. I
was pretty hungry. And we were passing along this stretch where just
about everybody I ever there was mean. I had just stopped someone.
Gotten rejected. The usual. When I looked up and saw one last man
walking. He had a cast looking thing around his ear (come to find out it
had been operated on) and he was on his way somewhere. Did I look upon
this man and see Assen's next wonderful member of the church? No. Did I
feel particularly impressed upon by the spirit to stop this man? No. But
did that stop me from "jumping in the water" and "swimming with all my
might"? No. And that man made an appointment with us.
When we went by
for his appointment, he wasn't home. We called and rescheduled for the
day after the next. We went back on that day and the bottom room of that
house (he lived in a student house where everybody has their own room
but there's a lot of rooms and only one kitchen in the whole house. I
have no idea if those exist in the states...but they are SUPER common
here) let us in and we went upstairs to find him. Not home. The girl who
lived just under him invited us into her room for some water. We taught
her a lesson. Gave a book of Mormon. It was really cool. On the way
out, we went back to check on him. The thing over his ear was gone, he
gave us his cell phone number, and he made another appointment for two
weeks out. My birthday. On the way back down, my companion stopped the
man who let us in and asked if he wanted to meet with us. We made an
appointment with him too.
We went back for
an appointment with this man and his wife and little. They agreed to be
baptized.It was amazing. And I left that house that one day with more
faith that I had stopped the man with the thing on his ear so that I
could be lead to that house to teach that college girl and the cute
little family. As the time progressed, the man and his wife changed
their minds--not wanting to go further with the church, and the college
girl didn't have any more contact. But we went back on my birthday to
the man on the very top floor to teach the restoration. He was
completely new to all religion, so we went slowly, step by step, to
introduce him to who Jesus Christ was. It was incredible to see this man
so interested and willing to learn and eager to believe in something
that he knew could help him--even though he didn't understand what the
word prophet meant at this time.
Our next
appointment was Christmas Eve. That was the day we made a baptismal date
with him. It was so cool! He had remembered so much--he had read the
chapter of the Book of Mormon that we recommended THREE times because he
didn't understand it, and he had spent some time practicing praying.
That weekend, he called to cancel an appointment, so we invited him to
church. He said he was scared. He had never been to a church before. But
we got him to come. I sat next to him and explained about the
sacrament. I was really nervous, I had never done that before with
someone completely new to church. But he liked it. And the next week, he
came to all three hours! He started cancelling his second appointments
in the week which made me really nervous that he wasn't going to make
his baptismal date, so that sunday, I fasted. I fasted and prayed that
everything would go great. I just wanted him to make it. And that night,
I got the transfer call that I was leaving--but only to a city about an
hour away.
I was heart
broken that I didn't get to see the whole process, but this much I know:
on February 8, 2014, the 5 year anniversary of the day I got my
patriarchal blessing--which is the very occasion where I decided to
serve a mission--I got on a train to go to his baptism. I saw him enter
into the gateway of eternal life. I saw him be welcomed into a place
that would make him feel belonging. And I cried.
Here there was a
man who a month earlier had come to church for the first time ever in
his life and was now at home there. Here was a man who on Christmas Eve,
didn't know what the word "Savior"meant, and was now having the song Ï
believe in Christ" being sung at his baptism. Here was a perfect
man--newly washed clean from everything, all ready to begin his new life
as a disciple of Jesus Christ. His daughter came. His mom came. His
brother came. And the ward came.
And it all
started because I had enough faith to jump in the water and swim. And
because God knew which meet, event, heat, and lane to put me in. And
that, my friends, is the secret of faith.
This week was wonderful--I truly realized what a dream I am living right now. And I am so thankful for that.
Vertrouw. Geloof. En Pixie Stoff!
-Zuster Hoff
No comments:
Post a Comment