Success Stories - March 2

Here are the latest West Indies Mission Success Stories

Elder Parrish – Guyana
Well elder warhurst was on splits with a member working in a new area. They were doing 5 min findings, that what we learned from this weeks Zone Meeting. They saw a house that looked like a Hindu family lived there. They passed it but they felt like they should say hi. The family is Golden. They were hindu, and turned Christian, the mother said when she saw them pass she prayed that they would turn around, and they did. They are not satisfied with the church that they are going to, and don’t believe they were baptized correctly. They came to church this week, and preparing to be baptized two weeks from now!

Elder Barker – Tobago
the greatest success that i had this week was seeing one of my best friends in the world, Bro. ***, a recent convert from port of spain ward, sitting and listening intently to the stake conference. that was one of the most inspiring feelings to see the blessings and changes in others lives. certainly encouraging for us to go out and work harder with humility to the Lord to help others have and ENDURING CONVERSION.

Elder Brenkmann - Guyana
This week we were teaching the word of wisdom to a Rastafarian named ***. We knew going into the lesson that he smoked marijuana frequently. When we started the lesson we asked him to share his feelings on Joseph Smith. He bore a beautiful testimony of how good he felt when he prayed about Joseph. He knew that he was a Prophet. Then we explained the Word of Wisdom to him and said that it came through Joseph. Right away he pointed out that he needed to stop smoking. *** has been doing very well since then and is rapidly progressing towards baptism. It was a great experience.

Elder Kelly – Guyana
This week, we were looking for good men to be the future leaders in the Linden Branch, and we were led to this great guy named ***. He is 23, and right from the start he was happy to see us. We taught him about the Restoration and the Priesthood, and we felt inspired that we should tell him about how Heavenly Father has a plan for him specifically. He then told us of how he had always thought of that when he had had hard times in his life, which was why he is still here. We asked him to pray at the end of the lesson, and he offered such a sincere, humble, and heartfelt prayer, and I felt the Spirit so strongly that my eyes welled up. I really feel like he is one of the leaders that the lord has prepared here. :-)

Elder Fisher – Guyana
There is a lady named *** that we found late last week that we have taught this week. She couldn't come to church last week for a reason that she explained before-hand. Anyway, she is a strong member of a church that believes very strongly that the Sabbath day is Saturday. As we taught other things, during the first few visits that topic was brought up again and again. We got her reading from the Book of Mormon, and as she has come to understand what it is (she had misunderstandings about the book given to her from people in other churches) and as she has read from it, the visits became more warm and she has mentioned the Sabbath day less and less. She came to church yesterday and enjoyed it. She even participated in the discussion about prophets in Gospel Principles class. The Book of Mormon is true and it softens hearts and leads people to Christ.

Elder Jones (Benjamin) – Trinidad
Success Story: We had an investigator that was lost. His name was *** and no matter how many times we went by his home or called him we couldn’t get in contact with him. Finally towards the end of this week he calls us and asks to meet with us. We do and find that he was out of town and had his phone off. He wanted a next assignment to read from the Book of Mormon and had questions about what he read last. We went by again yesterday and he honestly and powerfully committed to give up smoking cold turkey, praying on his knees for divine assistance. It is amazing to see the prepared people convert themselves.

Elder Rosales – St Lucia
We saw a lot of blessings this week , they all came from Heavenly Father through the members. The members in Vieux Fort are becoming missionaries. We had 2 member bring 4 people to church, and we weren’t involved at all. We have witness that as we teach the doctrine, serve and love the members they all have softened their hearts and have realized how they are part also of the work and the glory of Heavenly Father. I would say that always asking for referrals has been key to that, they can see in us how engaged we are and how concerned we are for the salvation of their friends.

Elder Jones (Blake) – Trinidad
This last week we were teaching a man and his family. Before we had just taught the man a few times, this time we had the whole family there. At the end of the lesson the father was testifying to his wife and kids that the Restoration happened, and the keys of the priesthood had been given to Joseph Smith. Yes he used keys, i dont even think that we had mentioned the word "keys" in any of our lessons? I testify that the lord does pour out his spirit upon those who wish to accept it, and to those who are willing to teach by it. This man came to the stake conference and he loved it...he will be baptized the 21st of March...

Elder Moala – Guyana
So yesterday a member with a mini bus picked up some of our investigators on the way to church. On the Bus i said a quiet prayer, saying that i've done all i can to get these people to church and now it was up to the Lord to do the rest. If he wanted them in his church, then let them receive that witness in church today. Well, church went really good. After church, i was talking to ***, one of our Investigators and i asked him how he felt, with a huge smile, he looked at me and said " really good" with a little silence, he looked at me again and said "it is true, isn't it?" smiled and said "yeahup, it is"

Elder Catherine – St Martin
We were tracting in our new area with my companion, elder julian, when we met a young boy named ***. He led us to his house and to his mom. She spoke spanish! Elder julian having studied french at school and i, having studied german and english, felt totally inadequate to teach them. Somehow we set a return appointment for the next day. We didnt know any member who could speak spanish so we went by ourselve to teach this spanish family. When we arrived, the mom and the sons were waiting for us.
As we started to speak, we could see that the mom caught one or two words in each sentence my companion and i said ( in english ) so we decided to trust the church translated material we had : tracts and the dvd of the restoration.
We watched the dvd in spanish and then asked her to read some part of the tract we felt were important for her understanding. She eventually commited to come to church and asked for us to come back the next day when her husband would be there. We went to teach this family with no way to communicate with them but the truth of the restoration found its way through that obstacle to touch the heart of this spanish family.