Wow, July continues to be a missionary-themed month for me. I announced over here that I want to share missionary stories here on the blog for July. Yesterday in church I got to hear three prospective missionaries speak and one returning missionary. The three prospective missionaries are about to depart. One is a young sister, age 19, going to Bangkok Thailand. Two are older single sisters going to Finland. Those two going to Finland were roommates in the Missionary Training Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 40 years ago in 1986. Now they will be serving as missionary companions in Finland! How fun and amazing for them! It was so cool because one of them spoke in Finnish a little bit at the beginning and end of her talk. My husband also served in Finland, more than 40 years ago. He quietly translated the Finnish for me, by whispering to me as I was sitting at his side, so I was able to know what she said right away. Then she did speak the English so everyone else knew what she had said too. She said that at the end of her mission, when she spoke at her homecoming sacrament meeting, she said, “I don’t want to be here, I want to be back in Finland.” She had fallen in love with the Finnish people and land.
That sacrament meeting was delightful to hear from these missionaries. After that meeting we went to another sacrament meeting where we got to hear a returning missionary, the daughter of my close friend Katie. The daughter just returned from her mission to Tennessee. I have known this young woman since she was 3. It is a delight to see her all grown up with a strong testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and His restored gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. She spoke of the power of the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and the power of Jesus Christ to change people. She said that whenever she feels negative, she reads the Book of Mormon and feels better.
My son who is the same age and friends with this young woman is on a mission too. It has been challenging, as missions are, but he recently baptized someone he taught, a young man in his 20s. This was his first baptism in over 6 months! So I am thrilled for him for that! When he first met the young man, my son asked him if he wanted more purpose in life. The young man said yes and accepted a Book of Mormon. Now he is on fire with the gospel. My son also got word that someone he taught in his previous area got baptized.
Today’s missionary story involves a missionary who served in Portland, Oregon almost 100 years ago. Her name is Esther Eldredge Decker. She had been asked by her family to come home early from her mission, 2 1/2 months, as they said they couldn’t afford to continue footing her mission bill. Yet she felt someone was waiting to hear the restored gospel truths, so she didn’t want to go home. She wrote home “I cannot leave the mission field at this time because there is someone waiting for me to come to their door with the gospel message. I must stay here until my work is completed.”
She wrote that her companion said that as long as she had money, they would both eat. Sister Decker also wrote, “The Lord, who knows all things, provided sustenance for both of us through generous people. And I was to learn that there was someone waiting to hear the gospel.”
On May 18, 1938, Sister Decker and her companion went tracting in Portland OR. They split up, with each taking a side of the street to contact. After three hours of knocking on doors, looking for someone to give away a Book of Mormon, and not finding anyone interested, she was discouraged. She decided to knock on one more door, and as she did, she silently prayed, asking God that someone in this next house would listen to their message.
What happened next was amazing! A woman with piercing dark eyes answered the door. She didn’t say anything after the missionaries offered her a Book of Mormon. So she left, and walked to the sidewalk, but then the woman, Mrs. Cook, ran after her. She grabbed Sister Decker’s arm and told the sister missionaries not to leave, as she knew God had answered her prayer and sent them there. They then sat on her porch where Mrs. Cook told her story. She said that she and her husband had lived in Gold Hills, Oregon. They had looked for a church that followed the teachings of the Bible and couldn’t find one, so they came to Portland looking for the true church of Jesus Christ.
Here is an excerpt from the story, in Sister Decker’s words:
“Mr. Cook told us that, after our first conversation with his wife, she had told him that a young woman had come to their door as an emissary of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. At first he had scoffed at the idea. What could a woman much younger than he teach him—a man versed in the scriptures? But he was willing to listen. Both of them were receptive and teachable, and they believed the testimony we bore. At last we have found the true Church of Jesus Christ,” he said.
Go here to read the complete story. It is so wonderful!
Want more missionary stories?
Get my family devotionals ebook here, and go to the July section to read the missionary-themed stories.
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Want more stories about the power of the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ? Go here.
