Sunday, January 16, 2011
Ron and Ger Visit
Ron and Ger stopped by on their way home from Kauai and spent two nights sleeping on our front room floor. They arrived on Friday, 1/14 and left Sunday night. It was wonderful to spend an afternoon sitting at the beach watching the surfers with the two of them. Ron was the "brave" one of the group, willing to try the water. We also attended the PCC night show "HA - The Breath of Life."
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
January Transfer Largest Number of Missionaries
Monday, January 10, 2011
Open House visit turns into baptism commitment
The Temple Open House was not to be a missionary event and all of us who served there were carefully instructed to not proselyte. All guests were invited to complete a Comment Card and IF they asked for more information by missionaries (by checking an appropriate box on the bottom of the card) then the referral could be processed and forwarded to missionaries. There were 166 visitors who asked for more information.
But as I went through the thousands of Comment Cards, I found that quite a few had shared sacred experiences felt during their visit. Many were powerful. We received permission to glean the cards with the strongest comments. Those with phone numbers were given to the sister missionaries to call as a follow-up to their Open House visit. Of the 333 called, 83 of them (25%) said they would like to have a visit by the missionaries.
One of our sister missionaries left a message on an answering machine and the called person called back. Sister Brown was just leaving the Call Center when the call came in. When Sister Brown offered to have missionaries visit the caller, the lady asked if the missionaries could come that evening. Sister Brown tracked down the elders assigned to the lady's area and they said "yes" they could. Later that night, after the visit the elders called Sister Brown and reported that they had taught the lady the Plan of Salvation and she committed to be baptized in February! How Great is That!
Another 160 Comment Cards had no phone number but left an e-mail address. I sent each one a personal e-mail message and referred them to Mormon.org and the "I'm a Mormon" video interviews. I don't expect any responses but feel that many (perhaps another 25%) will take the time to learn more.
But as I went through the thousands of Comment Cards, I found that quite a few had shared sacred experiences felt during their visit. Many were powerful. We received permission to glean the cards with the strongest comments. Those with phone numbers were given to the sister missionaries to call as a follow-up to their Open House visit. Of the 333 called, 83 of them (25%) said they would like to have a visit by the missionaries.
One of our sister missionaries left a message on an answering machine and the called person called back. Sister Brown was just leaving the Call Center when the call came in. When Sister Brown offered to have missionaries visit the caller, the lady asked if the missionaries could come that evening. Sister Brown tracked down the elders assigned to the lady's area and they said "yes" they could. Later that night, after the visit the elders called Sister Brown and reported that they had taught the lady the Plan of Salvation and she committed to be baptized in February! How Great is That!
Another 160 Comment Cards had no phone number but left an e-mail address. I sent each one a personal e-mail message and referred them to Mormon.org and the "I'm a Mormon" video interviews. I don't expect any responses but feel that many (perhaps another 25%) will take the time to learn more.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sweet experiences of watching visitors warm to the Gospel message
A wonderful couple with a Catholic background from Quebec, Canada walked into the VC out of curiosity, having seen the Temple while driving around the island. The wife said, "What makes your church different from other Christian religions?" "What a great question" I replied, and had them follow me to our Temple corner where we talked about temples, baptisms, Plan of Happiness. She asked, "Well, do you have a prophet today?" I said, "You ask such good questions, come with me." and took them over to our Prophets area. She kept asking great questions and after about an hour, their entire countenance had changed. We had all felt the Spirit witness to the truthfulness of the Gospel and they left with good feelings, lots of reading material and a promise to check out Mormon.org.
Today we were taking Christmas trees down and the VC was not looking great. In fact, it was quite a mess. Because all the young sisters were busy, I (Donna) took three non-members on tour. The couple who were Catholic and from Oregon were very interested what we believe in because the wife's brother had just joined the our Church two weeks before. She kept asking all kinds of questions and wanted to know how we were different from her church. It was a great experience to tell them about the restored gospel. She kept saying that she wanted to have her brother talk to her and explain doctrine to her. She did not want missionaries yet but I will call her next week to see if they have had the conservation that she so much wanted to have with him. I know they felt the Spirit because she made reference to feeling it twice during our conversation. The gospel is TRUE.
Today we were taking Christmas trees down and the VC was not looking great. In fact, it was quite a mess. Because all the young sisters were busy, I (Donna) took three non-members on tour. The couple who were Catholic and from Oregon were very interested what we believe in because the wife's brother had just joined the our Church two weeks before. She kept asking all kinds of questions and wanted to know how we were different from her church. It was a great experience to tell them about the restored gospel. She kept saying that she wanted to have her brother talk to her and explain doctrine to her. She did not want missionaries yet but I will call her next week to see if they have had the conservation that she so much wanted to have with him. I know they felt the Spirit because she made reference to feeling it twice during our conversation. The gospel is TRUE.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Year's Eve
Our New Year's Eve found us feeding the missionaries again. This time we made dinner and served it at the stake center adjacent to the VC: haystacks, salad, rolls, dessert. Good stuff.
And after dinner we returned to the VC for the Annual Talent Show. Don performed his "Flags of All Nations" magic trick, the same one he did last year. All the sisters' performances were outstanding and fun! After the so-called "talent" we watched "The Work and the Glory." The evening ended by watching the skies light up with fireworks galore! All by individuals scattered all over Laie. This was the last year the fireworks were allowed.
And after dinner we returned to the VC for the Annual Talent Show. Don performed his "Flags of All Nations" magic trick, the same one he did last year. All the sisters' performances were outstanding and fun! After the so-called "talent" we watched "The Work and the Glory." The evening ended by watching the skies light up with fireworks galore! All by individuals scattered all over Laie. This was the last year the fireworks were allowed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)