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There was a lady in Sapporo (Japan) who had been meeting with the missionaries for almost two years, while simultaneously attending another church and listening to their lessons. By the time my companion and I started teaching her, just about everyone thought it was hopeless. We would teach her something; she would attend the other church and discuss what we had taught her with the other members; we would meet again and do nothing the first hour but go through the scriptures answering the questions they had given her, then have a few minutes left to teach the Gospel; repeated over and over again.
Each time, we asked her to pray about it, but they kept telling her she couldn't trust what she might feel—that she could trust only what her mind would tell her, while they kept her mind confused and in turmoil. It was frustrating to see how miserable they made her, and we often wondered if we should move on to someone else—but each time we prayed about it we felt good about continuing to teach her.
My companion had been out only a month, and his Japanese was…really, really bad (to be charitable). One day, as we rode our bikes to her apartment, he asked if we just could read from the scriptures with her—not answer any questions or teach anything new, but just read. He said he had felt impressed to do so, and it felt good, so I agreed.
We started in the Bible and ended up in the Book of Mormon reading 2 Nephi 31. After we had alternated verses with her throughout that chapter, she asked us to stop while she read it again (the entire chapter) silently to herself. When she finished, my companion asked me to translate for him as he simply said, “Sister S, would you like to be baptized?” As soon as I had finished translating for him, she burst into tears—and the Spirit was as tangible as I have ever felt in my life. (Given some of the miraculous things I have witnessed, that is saying something.) When she was able to speak, she said something like, “Now I know what the love of God feels like.”
She was a sweet, honest woman, so she told the other church members of her decision. They immediately sent eight members over to her house, forced their way through her door and spent eight hours belittling us and the Church and her witness—refusing to leave as she begged them to stop. When they finally left, she booked a flight to Tokyo for the next morning in order to escape what she knew was coming the next day. She returned two weeks later with the following story:
She had called her aunt and uncle, who were like second parents to her—and whose judgment she respected more than anyone else she knew. She didn't know how to break the news of her testimony to such devout Buddhists, so she didn't say anything—until they cautiously told her Sunday morning that they were going to church later that day at the Mormon Church where they had been baptized two months previously—and that she didn't have to go with them since they didn't think she would understand their decision. When she told them of her experience, they burst into tears—amazed at what had happened.
Obviously, as soon as she returned to Hokkaido, she was baptized.
That experience taught me so forcefully that it isn't the missionaries who convert. Of course, we need to know the Gospel as well as we can, but Sister S wasn't converted because we had been able to answer her questions and “convince” her we were right. We had been able to answer her questions through the scriptures, but it hadn't converted her. That came through a simple meeting where we read scriptures with her, something touched her heart, and a humble, sincere missionary who couldn't teach the Gospel in Japanese well enough to convince a three-year-old asked her if she wanted to be baptized. He didn't “challenge” her; he simply asked if that is what she wanted. It literally changed my perspective of missionary work—ironically, by humbling me to be able to accept what my parents and leaders had told me all my life. We can't challenge anyone into an acceptance of the Gospel; we have to emulate our Savior, love people truly and sincerely and invite them to follow what they feel. We have to invite them to become—not just (or even primarily) to understand.
I am so grateful that I was called to serve in a foreign speaking mission, because I'm not sure I could have learned that life-altering lesson teaching in a language where I would have been tempted to impress investigators with my vocabulary and what I thought at the time was a solid understanding of the Gospel. It truly is remarkable what a humble, sincere witness, communicated through the Spirit, can do. Complex ideology can be fun, and I want to understand the Gospel as fully as I possibly can, but if I can't teach humbly through the Spirit, that intellectual understanding won't mean a thing in my efforts to share what I know and believe.
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
wow, I got chills! that is such a true thing, how we need to let the spirit lead, and not try to push. I love hearing missionary stories. it reafirms my trust in the Lord, and my faith in what I am teaching my boys about wanting to serve missions. It is not really a choice thing in our house, its like going to school, growing up and getting married, an inevitability. And until they start to question it, that is how it will stay.
I really liked this, Ray. Thank you.
It really had an impact on me at the time, and I continue to learn from it over 20 years later. There really is something to say for a simple invitation. For example, “Would you like to go to church with me sometime?” or “Would you like to come over Monday night and be part of our family activities?” Too often, we think we need to be able to “preach the Gospel” – when we really need to do nothing more than ask people to share in our lives.
Thank you Ray. There are days when we all need a gentle reminder that the Lord is in charge and that we don’t convince others to join the Church; instead it is the Spirit which gently leads them to the truth. Your missionary experience provided that gentle reminder to me at a time when I needed to hear it.
Ray,
Thanks for sharing this experience. On Sunday in our Preach My Gospel Sunday School class, we taught a lesson on the Book of Mormon (Ch 5 in PMG) and there is a quote from Pres. Benson along this line, that we need to let the spirit convert and that it is the spirit that will convert someone to the Gospel and help them gain a testimony of all the things we teach.
I have to say as well, I echo your sentiments on serving a foreign language mission. I know there were many arugments avoided because we just didn’t have the vocabulary for that.
Welcome, Oldzoobie! You sound like a gentle person, and I like you already.
Your story not only teaches about being humble in spirit, but also about the power of the scriptures. The spirit can really communicate with the words of the prophets. It reminds me that the spririt can testify to me if I am humble and sincere in my scripture reading. What a great way to have the spririt in your home and help your children gain testimonies too.
I get a bit frustrated sometimes at how we tend to use the term “doing missionary work” – as if, somehow, sharing / preaching the Gospel is separate from our daily lives – something we have to set aside time to do. If we simply were more willing to talk about our lives more openly and not worry about conversions, I belive the acceptance would come much more naturally. We just let ourselves get in the way too often.
I just got around to reading this post Ray, and I’m glad I finally did! What a powerful experience.
I’ve found myself in similar situations, thinking if I have just the right scripture or share just the right experience, et, that I’ll finally be able to reach someone I’ve been trying to share the gospel with. I have to constantly remind myself to listen to the Spirit, instead of focusing on being able to pull out the best answer from my treasure trove of scripture references.
Thanks for sharing this.
Out of curiosity– have you kept in touch with her?
I wonder sometimes what would happen when others ask about our religion if we simply and humbly said, “The Spirit has born witness to my soul that it is true. Would you like to come to church with me and see what I mean?” Forget trying to teach anything – just a simple testimony and a simple invitation.
Don’t discount being prepared though. The spirit can’t direct you to say something if it’s not there in the first place. I’m reminded of the Sons of Mosiah, they “had given themselves over to much fasting and prayer” and were well versed in the scriptures, but in tune to know how to use their prepartions effectively.
eoe, I agree. The problem comes when someone loses sight of the Spirit and believes the answer always lies in a scripture and/or a pithy quote. In my experience, it’s most likely to be something from the heart that is perhaps a paraphrase of something learned through a scripture or a quote or a church talk or a real life experience.