February 9, 2015 - Miracle Story

I want to start off by sharing one of the coolest miracles of my mission.

Elders Miles and McInerny at temple with ward member

Yesterday we had dinner with the Sandstrom family (No, they don't have any relation to our cousins that they know of). After finishing dinner we moved into the living room to share the thought for the night. We shared a scripture about missionary work and had a small discussion. The night before we had planned to do some tracting in their neighborhood after dinner, so we asked them if they knew anyone specifically in the area that we should try. After giving the usual "None of our neighbors would be interested" spiel, the dad had a bit of revelation. He remembered a lady on the street over that had recently been in a nasty divorce. He suggested we go and try knocking on her door. We ended with a prayer and asked them to pray for us.

Temple model at Visitor Center

We went straight over to the house they had indicated and knocked. The street was a dead end and her house was pretty dark. After a minute a lady came and looked out through the glass on the door. As is the usual procedure, we smiled and waved. She slowly cracked the door open and after briefly introducing ourselves she tried to push us away. In part of her excuse she said "I know I need it, but now is not a good time." Obviously she had left her self open and we jumped on the opportunity. We asked her what she meant by "She knew she needed it". She immediately began sobbing. To try to lighten the mood she asked "How many people do you make cry at the door?" In my head I thought "Well, actually you are only number three".

Elder Miles with mission car - a Ford Fusion

Knowing beforehand that she was going through a very hard time, we began to testify to her about how through Christ we can overcome any difficulty in life. Her countenance had changed a lot from the time she first opened the door. I don't even remember much of what we talked about because it was the spirit speaking to her through us. I could feel the spirit guiding everything I was saying. She accepted our invitation to take a Book of Mormon and Elder McInerny kept talking to her as I was trying to think of a chapter to have her read. I sat there momentarily and mentally scanned all of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon trying to think of one to give her to read. I knew it was important because she really needed a lot of comfort at that moment and I wanted to choose the right one. I said a silent prayer in my heart and instantly 3 Nephi 17 popped into my head. That was unusual because I had never given that as a chapter to read for someone. That chapter is about Christ ministering to the Nephites, healing the sick and afflicted, and calling the little children unto him. I felt strongly that was the chapter I needed to give her. 

We gave a brief explanation of the Book of Mormon as she continued to sob quietly. We handed her the book and a Plan of Salvation Pamphlet. She accepted a return appointment for two Sundays from now and said that she was going to read for sure. We left with no doubt in our minds that she was going to go read it immediately. We have such a good feeling about her! We went back the Sandstrom's house afterwards to tell them about our experience with Debbie. The members are the best way to find because they know way more people than we do! That was one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission. I know that the spirit was guiding us the whole way and we were simply instruments in Gods hand to bring comfort to her in a time of need.

Door sign

Our other investigators are doing well, but not much to update you about. We did a lot of door knocking this week because we really need to find more people to teach. We found several cool people including the one with a crazy sign on her door (see attached picture). Elder Raban came on exchange with me to our area this week. It was fun to catch up a bit and talk about the good ole' days. It will be sad to see him and others in his group leave next week. We also went to the temple with a returning member on Saturday and we had a mission leadership meeting on Friday. This upcoming Sunday we will be part of a panel to answer questions at a stake mission prep fireside. I will update you next week!

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Elder Braden Miles

Washington DC South Mission