One day while he and his companion were tracting in the city of Cluff, they came upon the home of a man busy working in the garden while his two bullmastiffs guarded the front gate.
"If we come in will they kill us?" My dad asked from the gate.
He let them in an began to tell them a story.
He had recently had an argument with the minister from the Parrish down the way that had him quite upset. Because his children had not been baptized as infants, it would not be possible (or appropriate) for them to be buried there.
So Hugh posed this question to my father: "What does your church believe on the subject of infant baptism?"
My father immediately took out the Book of Mormon and showed him Moroni Chapter 8:
5 For, if I have learned the truth, there have been disputations among you concerning the baptism of your little children.
The answer was one that he could accept and likewise began to take the lessons from my father and his companion.
To make a long story short, he did not join the church before my father was transferred. In fact after five sets of missionaries, they asked the missionaries not to come around and that it would be up to him to let them know when he was ready.
About 20 months later he realized that he had not really acted on the words of Moroni and decided to pray about the LDS church. From his prayer he knew what he had to do. The next week he and his family went to church and requested baptism.
Fast forward to a few months ago...
The Kjaer family moved into our ward about a year ago. Sister (Sarah) Kjaer was from South Africa. We learned that her parents were coming to America and were going to be living with them.
Brother Hugh MacMillan and his wife Edith became instantly famous in the ward due to their accent. He is a great man with a great spirit about him.
He is one of those members that bares his testimony every Fast Sunday (but you just don't care because they are so insightful and inspiring).
One Sunday he spoke about he and he family joined the church nearly 38 years ago... and it clicked "I wonder if he knows my dad?"
So after a few weeks I got up the nerve ask him.
"Hi," I said, "my father served his mission in South Africa from 1968 to 1971. I wonder if you know him. His name was Elder Charlie Clayton. I'm Michael, his oldest son."
Brother MacMillan didn't answer. He just stumbled back and grabbed the vestibule.
"Your father is Elder Clayton?" he asked.
"Yes, he is."
"Let me tell you a story about how your father introduced me to the Gospel of Jesus Christ..."
Later that night, I called my father and told him what had happened at church. He told me a slightly different version of the story Brother MacMillan told me, but it was same in gist.
That night my father called Brother MacMillan and they spoke to each other for the first time in nearly three and a half decades.
Fast forward to last Wednesday...
My father and mother came into town for Aimee's baptism.
We invited the MacMillans to come to our home for dessert and a chat.
It was great to listen to my dad and Brother MacMillan reminisce about the church and the members in South Africa.
There are too many things that I learned about my father and his friend that I can't write them all here (funny, I think something like this is the scriptures).
Before they left, I asked if I could take a picture of them... and here it is:
To make a long story short, he did not join the church before my father was transferred. In fact after five sets of missionaries, they asked the missionaries not to come around and that it would be up to him to let them know when he was ready.
About 20 months later he realized that he had not really acted on the words of Moroni and decided to pray about the LDS church. From his prayer he knew what he had to do. The next week he and his family went to church and requested baptism.
Fast forward to a few months ago...
The Kjaer family moved into our ward about a year ago. Sister (Sarah) Kjaer was from South Africa. We learned that her parents were coming to America and were going to be living with them.
Brother Hugh MacMillan and his wife Edith became instantly famous in the ward due to their accent. He is a great man with a great spirit about him.
He is one of those members that bares his testimony every Fast Sunday (but you just don't care because they are so insightful and inspiring).
One Sunday he spoke about he and he family joined the church nearly 38 years ago... and it clicked "I wonder if he knows my dad?"
So after a few weeks I got up the nerve ask him.
"Hi," I said, "my father served his mission in South Africa from 1968 to 1971. I wonder if you know him. His name was Elder Charlie Clayton. I'm Michael, his oldest son."
Brother MacMillan didn't answer. He just stumbled back and grabbed the vestibule.
"Your father is Elder Clayton?" he asked.
"Yes, he is."
"Let me tell you a story about how your father introduced me to the Gospel of Jesus Christ..."
Later that night, I called my father and told him what had happened at church. He told me a slightly different version of the story Brother MacMillan told me, but it was same in gist.
That night my father called Brother MacMillan and they spoke to each other for the first time in nearly three and a half decades.
Fast forward to last Wednesday...
My father and mother came into town for Aimee's baptism.
We invited the MacMillans to come to our home for dessert and a chat.
It was great to listen to my dad and Brother MacMillan reminisce about the church and the members in South Africa.
There are too many things that I learned about my father and his friend that I can't write them all here (funny, I think something like this is the scriptures).
Before they left, I asked if I could take a picture of them... and here it is:
Brother MacMillan and his wife work in the San Antonio Temple, and he was even one of the officiators in the session that my parents and I attended on Friday.
I guess that what I bring away from this whole experience is that you never really know what becomes of the people that you talk to on your mission that don't accept the gospel right off hand. But it is nice to know that the seeds that we plant in the mission field can some day begin to sprout and bear good fruit.
Update: I'm the Kjaers' home teacher and Brother MacMillan joined us when we made out visit tonight. He pulled me aside and thanked me for letting him know that my dad was in town and how much he enjoyed the visit and seeing us at the temple. He told me that he felt that he had come full circle and had closure now knowing that my father knew he had joined the church and how much it has affected his life and the life of his family. He has been thinking about it ever since that night and expressed to me the great joy that he felt meeting him again and also knowing how he was doing and how blessed our family has been. The Gospel is indeed a wonderful thing.
I guess that what I bring away from this whole experience is that you never really know what becomes of the people that you talk to on your mission that don't accept the gospel right off hand. But it is nice to know that the seeds that we plant in the mission field can some day begin to sprout and bear good fruit.
Update: I'm the Kjaers' home teacher and Brother MacMillan joined us when we made out visit tonight. He pulled me aside and thanked me for letting him know that my dad was in town and how much he enjoyed the visit and seeing us at the temple. He told me that he felt that he had come full circle and had closure now knowing that my father knew he had joined the church and how much it has affected his life and the life of his family. He has been thinking about it ever since that night and expressed to me the great joy that he felt meeting him again and also knowing how he was doing and how blessed our family has been. The Gospel is indeed a wonderful thing.
1 comment:
These are great stories - Harry had a similar experience when we went down to South America - although he had known about the people he taught on his last day of his mission - he had kept in touch, but he had not seen them in 42 years - it is great to know that seeds are being planted - and the the harvest is extensive!!
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