Peter Ornick, September 4, 2010 Almere, the Netherlands
Four weeks ago Peter walked into the middle of church and asked if he could be baptized. He wanted to be baptised as soon as possible and was disappointed to learn that our appointment for Saturday was only a lesson and not his actual baptism. (He had already invited people!) His enthusiasm about being baptized never faltered and he stuck to his teaching calendar the whole time, showing up for appointments always 5 minutes early. Teaching him went flawlessly and we had members eager to go on joint teach whenever possible which gave him a strong support group in the ward. He quit smoking without ever picking up another cigarette, and the only other problem he had was not liking to sing at church. But of course that's not really even a problem and he was a golden investigator. He had grown up as an atheist and then he lost his job, girlfriend and two kids and decided to get on his knees and pray. He describes the feeling of the love of Christ around him like a blanket, and knew that God existed. Since this experience he has read the Bible twice and had strong faith that Jesus Christ was his Redeemer but never had gone to church. He decided to be baptised and want to find the church of God. He drove to every church in Almere and when he saw our little building, he felt distinctly really strongly that this was the church he was looking for. He was prepared for the Gospel before we even met him! (Elders Sticht and Mueller)
Patience and Fleur, Zoetermeer--Sept 4, 2010
Wow, it was so fun teaching them. She turned us down the first lesson when we tried to do the baptismal calendar, but we kept trying and gave her Alma 32 to read. The very next lesson she came back and said "there is no doubt, I’m getting baptised.” Very special to see the power of the Book Of Mormon work. She said she felt the Holy Ghost tell her that she didn’t need to be perfect and that she was ready. She lives in the same building as us so teaching her was very nice. She came up to us and asked what we were doing, said she wanted to take her daughter to church one time. She came and came every week after. She later told us "that there was something different about us that made her stop and talk to us, it was in our eyes she said. She later said to Elder Bell and Elder Bastian that "you have given me something special" It was amazing teaching her and seeing the Holy Ghost work in the same apartment that we live in. It was a very special day. (Elder Bastian and Staker)
Steven (Xie Zhincheng), Apeldoorn, Sept 5, 2010
Steven is one of those crazy miracle stories. We got a call from a (less-active) member (Jeremy). He told us he had a friend that was interested in learning more about the Gospel so we gave him (Steven - Xie Zhicheng) a call and went over to his house. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he liked what he heard so we committed him to Baptism. Throughout the entire teaching process he had no real concerns. When we taught the Word of Wisdom he just told us he would give up tea if that was needed, no problem at all. He made the date we set with him the first time and has only missed one Sunday since we met him. He will be a great solid member. (Elders de Bruijn and Verwey)
No comments:
Post a Comment