I just gained a strong testimony of not giving up hope on investigators even when we have dropped them for one reason or another. So a year ago I was in my third transfer and a lady called in looking for her Bishop's number. I just assumed she was a less active member so I kept her number and tried to contact her a few times after that but I was never able to get a hold of her. Well the other night I was prompted to look through some of my dropped contacts and decided to start calling a few of them. I called about ten people and no one answered. Then I got to Stephenie's name and I was about to delete her from the list. I thought about it for a minute and received a prompting that I should call her. So I just dialed her and expected the line not to go through but it did and she answered. So I started talking to her and told her who I was and she told me that it was so weird that I called her because she has been feeling like she needs to go back to church lately. She got divorced last year and has been depressed. She keeps her Grandpa's scriptures right next to her bed and has been looking through them. We talked about her going to church on Sunday and then I brought up General Conference so she went on lds.org to look it up. For some reason it told her she couldn't log in without a record number. She said, "I don't think I have a membership record number." So I replied and told her that every baptized member of the church has one and she can ask the Bishopric or the ward clerk on Sunday. The she said, "Well, I have never been baptized. I was always waiting for my Grandpa to baptize me but he never made it to Rhode Island." She has been going to the church for years but fell less active when she got older. Her mom was baptized but stopped going when she was young. I asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she started crying and said yes! We had a good conversation and she was just crying because she said that it was not coincidence that I called her. And I know that to be true because there are no coincidences! Now she is planning to be baptized and is meeting with the missionaries. She already knows the church is true and is going to invite her boyfriend to learn about it from us. He is very open. I guess the point of the story is I learned that it is so important to never forget about the people we "drop". Heavenly Father will prepare them for the Gospel and they will accept it in their own time and in their own way. I am so thankful for the Holy Ghost and I know that we could never do this work without the spirit. I know this Gospel is true and it is the happiest way to live. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have it. Remember that in order to really know whether it is true we must seek it out ourselves. Our own testimony is much stronger than relying on others. It doesn't matter how good the missionary is or how good the Sunday School teacher is. We must know of the truthfulness of this gospel on our own and through confirmation of the spirit.
Moroni 10:5 "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
Love you lots!
Sister Park
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