October 10, 2010

Last night, me and Elder Tang witnessed a miracle! We were on exchanges, and we had an appointment later in the evening with our investigator, Rex. Earlier that afternoon we got a text from Rex and it said "Move our appointment to 7:00 pm, and no members of the church - just y'all". We were planning to bring our WML Bro. Bellisario - so nervous, and I had an idea why he didn't want anyone there but us. So we showed up at 7:00 pm, started with a prayer, and right after the amen, Rex said "Alright I'll cut to the chase - I didn't want members here because I want to talk about ending our meetings". He then spent the next 20-25 sharing with us his concerns. He was angry, frustrated and upset. He felt like he has been diligently seeking and has felt nothing. He watched conference last weekend and didn't feel anything special. He further expressed frustration with Prop 8 and Joseph Smith not being a prophet. He was pretty upset. After we let him talk for a while, we asked him "Rex how do you feel right now?" He told us he felt sad, and frustrated. We turned to Galatians 5:22 and read the fruits of the spirit. After we read it we asked him if he felt any of those feelings. He said no, and we said we don't either! We bore our testimonies and asked him to kneel down and pray (as we have done with him many times). Rex pleaded with the Lord and asked him to recognize the spirit. He said "If I haven't been feeling your nudges - then shove me". After we said amen we all knelt on the floor quietly. Rex sat up in his chair. He was a lot more calm, but said he felt "dejected". He didn't feel anything. A thought came into my mind very strongly. It scared me - but in conference this past weekend a speakers words came to mind. In his talk he said - follow the promptings of the spirit as you teach, and if you will, you will have the sweetest experiences as a teacher. I followed my prompting and I said "Rex don't take this the wrong way, because you said a beautiful prayer, but would you feel comfortable offering another prayer and saying nothing but thanks to God?" He said that would be o.k., and we all knelt down again as Rex offered a prayer of gratitude. The spirit entered the room as Rex expressed thanks to his Father in Heaven. He prayed for quite a while. After the prayer, me and Elder Tang sang Be Still My Soul. After we sang we asked Rex how he felt. He looked up and said "I feel peace, but I don't know what that means". I smiled and said "Rex! That means everything! That is the spirit". The spirit flooded the room! It was the sweetest experience. Rex couldn't stop smiling. He said "What do I do now?" He also said "What can I do to feel this again?" We bore our testimonies and promised him blessings. He felt the spirit and recognized it!He couldn't stop smiling. We said a closing prayer, gave him a hug and left. That experience was one of the most sacred experiences of my life. The spirit is real. He testifies of truth. Our Father in Heaven loves us and will answer our prayers. We have been telling Rex that we learn line upon line for the past 3 1/2 months and he always has said that he hasn't even hit the first line! But last night he truly felt and recognized the spirit. He will continue to build from here.