Day 164 A Family Reunion- 09-08-06

Today after our planning meeting we went to try to see A. We knocked on the door, but no one answered. We were just about to leave when J, A’s mom, pulled into a parking space. “Oh, Elders,” she said. “Come with me! Come meet my little brother. Elders, this is my little brother A.” Little wasn’t the word for it. A is about 6 ½ feet tall. He came over with his family. We made introductions and shook hands. J asked us to come inside because her son A was supposed to be home. I don’t know why no one came to the door.

So, Elder Pierce and I were caught up in a family reunion. Once inside, J called down the hall to A to get up. Now I know why he did not come to the door. He sleeps a lot. She told A that his uncle A and family were here. A came out of his room yawning. He saw his uncle and then he saw us. “Hey, have you guys been waiting long?” he asked. “Not too long. We just got here.” I told him. A went over to his uncle and gave him a big hug. A introduced us to his uncle and told us that he had never met him before. So, wow! A meets his uncle for the first time and we were there for it. Pretty special.

Now things start getting good. A#2 has heard of our church and seen missionaries riding around on bikes, but he really did not know what we believe. He asked us, “What do you believe?” I was about to answer when A#1 started to bear his testimony. He said, “The Mormons believe in the Book of Mormon. They also believe in the Bible as the Word of God.” “So, you have another book in your Bible?” A2 asked. “Not quite,” I said. “The Book of Mormon is comprised of 15 books. It’s a record of prophets who spoke with God just like in the Bible. And just like the Bible, it testifies of the divinity of Jesus Christ.” “Where did it come from?” asked A2. “Uh”, A1 said, “The Mormons believe that God called a prophet called Joseph Smith. He was able to give us the Book of Mormon to read and to grow closer to God.” Alex continued, “When I read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, they both say the same things. Some days I feel like reading the Bible and other days I feel like reading the Book of Mormon, but the message is the same. They both speak about Jesus Christ.”
“Have you ever been to our temple in Washington DC?” I asked A2. He had not. I pulled out a picture of the temple that I carry with me in my back pack and showed it to him. “Yeah, their temple’s really nice,” said A1. “I went to see it with them last week. We watched a movie in the Visitor’s Center about Joseph Smith. It shows you about his life and the things he taught to help people be better. They also have this big statue of Jesus that talks (the Christus) and says things from the scriptures like, ‘if you love me, keep my commandments’ and things like that. I’ve been studying with the Mormons and want to try to be baptized sometime soon.”

I was really proud of A today! That is my Happy Thing for Day 164: A meets with his uncle for the first time in 23 years and what’s the first thing he talks about? Studying with the missionaries and going to the Visitor’s Center. That’s the best!

Of course maybe the fact that we were there at the time had something to do with it. Either way, A showed a real sign of progress. A wants us to be sure and wake him up on Sunday. I told him that if he really wanted to get up, he would need to get to bed earlier the night before. We’ll see…We plan on stopping by tomorrow to talk with him about the Word of Wisdom. Not to rebuke him, but to remind him of what the Lord expects.