When we moved into this Ward 16 years ago, my wife was assigned to a lady who was not active at all and didn’t want to go to church. She did enjoy having Visiting Teachers come though, and always welcomed them and was receptive to the messages.
She and her husband were smokers and drank coffee and beer quite regularly. Her husband was unemployed and she worked a full time job.
About a year after my wife had been assigned to her, they changed the assignments and she was given to someone else. Three months later, my wife decided to go and visit her to see how she was getting along. No one had visited her since my wife had, so she went to the Relief Society President and told her she wanted her back because no one was visiting her. They reassigned her to my wife and her partner.
Whenever her partner wasn’t able to go with her, I went along, and we always had a prayer in their home before leaving. They enjoyed that very much, but still didn’t want to go to church. We never asked them to go, but they let us know they were not church goers.
After about ten years of visiting and friendshipping them, one day my wife came home and was elated as the woman wanted to start going to church. She had quit drinking coffee and beer and stopped smoking, and wanted to become active in the church. Many times she and her husband told us that as far as they were concerned, we were the church to them and we could come anytime.
Then her husband started coming out with her, and had put a sign on his door which read “No smoking in this house.” Many of their friends didn’t believe they would do it, but they did.
Right before we got our mission call to Romania this sister came to us and asked us if we would go with her to the temple to take out her endowments, as she was getting a temple recommend that Sunday. We told her we would love to, but we had to go Monday morning to the MTC and probably wouldn’t get to go with her as the temple was closed on Mondays and we’d be in training Tuesday. She went anyway.
We went to Romania and carried on a letter writing program with her and her husband, and was told that she loved going to the temple and had been called as a temple worker which she loved so much.
When we returned home from our mission, they assigned me to be their Home Teacher, and my partner and I went every month for a year, and then they released me as their Home Teacher. I cried, because I loved them. But soon they were being taught by the Stake Missionaries, and before long they were both coming out to church.
Recently he got his recommend and went to the temple to take out his endowments, and in November, they went to the temple and were sealed for time and all eternity. Everyone loves them, and are always there shaking their hands at church. It is such a joy and blessing to see them coming to church, and loving to go to the temple. I just have to give them a big hug every time I see them smiling…shaking hands with everyone that comes in the door to the chapel. It wasn’t just us, but many of the members of the Ward who reached out and welcomed them into the ward. They had lived in this ward for over 20 years, and have made tremendous progress in just the last two years. God be praised.
Jim and Betty Lee
Posted by John in Home Teaching, Visiting Teaching, HT-Experiences, VT-Experiences