2/20/14 ~

We've had new visitors in our congregation! They're missionaries...just not the kind we were expecting to see.  Here is a nice experience that I'd thought I'd share with you.

A progressive bible student of a regular pioneer in our hall was getting ready to attend the meeting when a pair of Mormons called on her door. There are many Mormon missionaries here in the Dominican Republic and you see them out and about a lot during afternoon service and at night. The bible student said she was sorry she could not attend to them because she was just leaving to go attend the meeting at the Kingdom Hall. The two Mormon missionaries said that was fine and could they come with her. She agreed and brought them along with her to the meeting. At first, all of us at the hall were a little surprised but as usual, we gave them a warm welcome. My mother and I approached them and learned that they had only been in DR for a year. One of them, from Utah, was so glad we spoke English and all of us chatted until the meeting started. In the meeting, we analyzed the Yearbook and both of the missionaries were so impressed with the number of witnesses in the Dominican Republic (36,000+), seeing as the number of Mormons are only 800 or so. One of them even raised their hand when the conductor asked for comments. After the meeting, we spoke a bit more with them and one of the missionaries mentioned that where he was from (Guatemala) he had hardly ever received visits from the witnesses and he seemed to be very interested. A young brother gave the missionaries a bible and a Bible Teach book.

The next meeting was another surprise, our missionaries came back and brought two more of their friends! The brothers joked that the next meeting there would be eight, then sixteen and keep doubling until the meetings would just be a sea of black and white. They all sat together in the front row and during the Watchtower study, the missionary from Guatemala raised his hand again and this time the conductor gave him a chance. He answered from the Watchtower and even used his own words a bit. We were all very impressed with their interest.

(Here comes the moral of the story!) This is great to remind us to never underestimate someone's interest in the truth just because they belong to another religious group.
Sadly, the number of our Mormon visitors did not double, and we hardly see any of them again, though when we do, they always offer friendly small talk. We did hear that the missionary from Guatemala, who had shown the most interest, had been transferred to Santiago. Nonetheless, we all feel good knowing that a seed has been planted and if any of them has a sincere interest in the truth, Jehovah will take care of it. (1 Cor. 3:6).

So, what do you think about our visitors?



5 Comments

  1. That is awesome! Do you mind if I reblog this on my blog?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, of course not! Go ahead! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

      Delete
  2. Great experience! I wonder who got him re assigned to Santiago??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That, I couldn't tell you...but it sounds fishy, doesn't it? Hopefully, if he was truly interested, he'll meet up with witnesses in Santiago. Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  3. I can only imagine the shock when the man raised his hand! We have a lot of Mormons here too, but they usually run from us.

    We'll be hearing about his experience in a future Yearbook, Mormon missionary turned JW missionary!

    ReplyDelete

Powered by Blogger.