A Sweet Temple Experience

One evening, when we were serving our Tuesday shift at the temple, I noticed a name on the reservation sheet that was very unusual.  They didn't come in at the time for which they were signed up but were about 45 minutes late.  I actually started one session, and they came just as I was taking the next.  But it was too full to accommodate them in that one, so I asked them to wait for the next.  That gave us an opportunity to visit.  It was a man from India with his mother who was visiting for the holidays.  I asked him to tell me his conversion story.  His mother spoke no English.  He told me the most fascinating, faith promoting story.  I will tell it as best I can remember it:

When he was a teenager, his mother became interested in Christianity.  She joined a church and he would go with her.  The preacher was a charismatic man who preached with conviction.  Sometimes after late activities or meetings, this teenager would stay at the preacher's home.  He would overhear the preacher talking and laughing with friends.  He was disappointed that the preacher preached one thing but talked and lived another way.  He soon quit attending.

Later, when he was a young adult, he started attending another Christian church.  He believed in Jesus Christ.  His daily routine took him by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints building.  He was drawn to it.  It said on the sign "Visitors Welcome."  But he knew it as an English-speaking church, and he didn't speak English then (his English as he told the story was impeccable) so he didn't ever go there.  He worked at a local grocery store.  One morning, two Elders came in.  They were obviously looking for something, so he asked if he could be of assistance.  He took them to the desired item.  In return, they gave him a pass along card that had five questions on in:

Where did I come from?

Why am I here?

Where am I going?

Is there really a God?

And I don't remember the other one.

He looked  at the card and asked,"Do you know the answers to these questions?"  "Yes, we do." the Elders answered.  He couldn't believe it and asked again, "You know the answers?"   Yes!"  He couldn't believe it.  He just couldn't believe it.  Since he was a small boy, he would look up into the night sky and wonder about the answers to those very questions.  He had asked both Christian pastors, but neither knew the answers.

He was so excited to learn the answers and set an appointment with the Elders.  He soon began learning about the gospel from the Elders.  While he was learning, he went to the pastor of the church he was attending and asked him the questions again and told him he was meeting with the Elders.  The pastor couldn't answer the question, but told him to stay away from the Elders, telling him they were evil.  But he didn't obey and was soon baptized.  

He paused here to look me in the eyes and say to me,"I am so very grateful for you people from Utah who send your children on missions.  Two elders from Utah gave me the gospel."

He then went on to have his brothers, his cousins, and many friends learn from the Elders.  Soon his mother became interested, and she too was eventually baptized.  He was out to convert India!  He then served a mission as did his brother and cousins.  Can you even imagine the multitude converted from that one little pass along card?

That's about when I had to leave and do my work, so I didn't get to ask him more questions.  But I did learn that he lives in this area now and his mother came from India to stay with him for about a month and he was bringing her to the temple as often as he could while she was here.

As I left the room, I took his mother's hands (she was a beautiful woman with a ruby in her forehead) and told her what an honor it was to meet her and have her in the temple.

This was such a sweet experience that I had to share it here.