Helping to Bring the Church out of Obscurity

 We are into fair season here in our little part of the U.P. Last Friday and Saturday Sister Johnson and I took our turns manning a booth in the Iron County Fair. 

Our booth in the Iron County Fair. Who knows from which video is the scene on the TV?

The fair is held in the town of Iron River about 45 miles from home. The most interested couple we had the opportunity to visit with was there from Chicago attending a youth convention for their church. They had some tiny misconceptions about the LDS church, which we were able to clear up, they also asked some very good questions. We ended up giving them a copy of the B of M and “The Restoration” and  “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlets. In hindsight we probably should have gotten their home address and had a B of M delivered by the missionaries there. On the other hand I was able to put a testimony into the Book and mark the important statements in the Introduction. I suspect there is no “wrong” way to handle something like that!

Looking down the aisle through the far doorway where the animal judging
and pedal tractor pulls took place.

 This is a small county with maybe 12,000 residents. It was somehow very satisfying to see the home canning, chickens, flower arrangements, baking, painting (finger and oil), antique tractors, etc. entered in the various displays. These "small town" folk are very happy with almost every aspect of their lives. Yes, many do not have Internet connections. To them Angry Birds are two male Robins fighting for the same nesting material. And to us that is more than OK, it seems somehow just as things should be. Take the pedal tractor pull. Parents were encouraging their 5-12 years olds with shouts of, "you can do it" and "pedal harder". Delightful. (The local members were disappointed the young Missionaries weren't coming this year because of mileage restrictions. It seems a couple of years ago the missionaries were in the finals of the pedal tractor pull which gave the locals a lot of opportunities for conversations about the church.)

 The most exciting event of last week was, what we feel, a breakthrough with our long-term investigator. We were ending one of our usually very serious discussions, this one on the signs of the true church. We were testifying at the end of our discussion and it became evident that the Spirit was testifying to him. For the first time we were able to tell him that the experience he was having, right then, was the impression he said he was waiting for as a confirmation to be baptized. The Spirit whispered to me to invite him to be baptized. We did. He said, “I will let you know”. What he didn’t say is important. He has always said something to the effect, “I will be baptized when the Spirit witnesses to me”. He can’t say that anymore. He was in church on Sunday. We are looking forward to our next lesson.

It is wonderful to be in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Elder and Sister Johnson