Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sometimes

Sometimes in this day and age it's scary opening your door. Just a few miles away a lady opened their door and was stabbed for no apparent reason. Scary, no?

But Sometimes....sometimes.... something wonderful happens when you open your door to a stranger.

That something wonderful happened at our home last night.

A young man showed up on our doorstep selling magazines. (No we don't have a No Soliciting sign) Tyran answered the door and I thought he would make quick work of the young salesman. He rarely has patience for people coming to the door to sell us things.

But he didn't make quick work of this one. He listened. And then he did something that floored me. He agreed to buy a magazine. I was sitting in the front room on my laptop not believing what I was hearing.

Then a strange thing happened. This young man that was selling came into our home. For those of you who have experience with this, you know that they NEVER come in. Ever. They are told NOT to go into people's homes. He even said as he came in the door. "I'm breaking the law, my dad's in the military and is going to kill me."

He came and shook my hand and introduced himself. Very personable, friendly person. Ty and he went to the kitchen table and started to fill things out for the magazine subscription. Then this young man said "I don't mean to be rude but can I ask you a question?" Sure. "This being Utah and all. Are you guys Mormons?" We replied in the affirmative.

The next question he asked? "Do you have any literature that I could have?" I was stopped short. Did we? How sad is that that I had to stop and think if we did or not? I told him that I was sure we had a copy of the Book of Mormon that he could have. Our kids have one or two missionary copies laying around at any given time. He said that he'd been wanting to ask about the church but hadn't really felt comfortable asking about it until he came into our home.

I went on a search for "literature" as he and Ty talked more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I found a well used copy of the Book of Mormon and gave it to him. And he and Ty basically had the first discussion. He wore a cross on a chain and explained that he didn't really like it but that his mom had given it to him and she had passed on. Then they spoke of families and how we believe that the are forever, and how that is something that the church is all about. Being a forever family.

I also found a small card that had the 13 Articles of Faith on it to give to him. I was busy getting the kids rounded up because we had to head out the door to the Blue and Gold banquet so I didn't get to hear exactly what was happening but from what Ty told me it was amazing. The Spirit was here and that young man felt it.

This young man is in Utah for a month. He comes from New Jersey. Ty gave him his cell number and his business card and told him to call him if he had any more questions. We are hoping that he will come back to our home tomorrow night so that we can have the missionaries come and talk to him.

How about that? I found that sometimes when you open your door amazing things can happen.

(I also found out that I need to get more "literature" in my home.)

24 comments:

Kristina P. said...

That is such a great experience!

Surprisingly enough, I have had many missionary experiences from my blog, and have had lots of email conversations with non-members.

And I don't know if we have any literature around here!

Jillene said...

What an AWESOME experience!! I am so glad that you hubby opened the door!!

My kids are always bringing home literature. The Bishop has a table outside his office and they are always taking something or another. But if you were to ask me where said literature is....I would have NO clue!!

Lara Neves said...

Wow! For some reason YOU were the ones that needed to share the Gospel with him. Isn't that cool to know? Truly amazing.

This made me have tears in my eyes.

Martha H. said...

What a truly wonderful experience.

Jules AF said...

That is amazing.

Funky Kim said...

What a neat, incredible experience for you guys!

Me (aka Danielle) said...

Wow! What a truly amazing experience!

and a blessing..for everyone involved!

The poor dear would have missed out at my house..I don't even answer the door....

Erin said...

I second everyone else. So neat!

The spirit obviously spoke to your husband. Wow!

Brooke said...

That's awesome! Something that hardly ever happens in Utah! I'm glad that you and your husband could teach him!

i'm erin. said...

Wow Shanna, that is so great. It is so neat to hear experiences like that.

Unknown said...

I don't think I have an extra copy of the Book of Mormon here...what a call to wke up and get one!

tammy said...

Wow. That gave me chills. I guess you never know when the opportunity will knock huh? I have a friend that keeps extra copies in her car just in case.

Anonymous said...

That is just the absolute opposite of how it usually goes. Amazing. What an experience for you.

Lisa Summerhays said...

I don't think I have any literature either. I better get on that!

Vanessa said...

Great story! And I'm with everyone else, I need to get some literature around here!

Anonymous said...

Tears in my eyes. Amazing. We always have several missionary book of Mormons and pamphlets hanging around. (My husband has been ward mission leader like three times!) But we've never had such a great chance to use it. What a blessing!

Anonymous said...

kewlness!!!! lol at your last line LOL

Que and Brittany's Adoption Journey said...

What a wonderful thing! It's like you had a reverse missionary experience- he came to YOUR door! LOL

Bonnie the Boss said...

That is the coolest ever! Way to live so he was able to ask!

Wendyburd1 said...

That is SO cool! And it makes me think, I really need to get some of the literature or pamphlets from the ward building, because we may have a few Books of Mormon around, but not anything helpful to an inquiring mind... the Book of Mormon can be a little bit much for some people at first!!

Bobie said...

I love these stories. One month in Utah and of all the houses he gets to come to yours and your hubby buys a magazine which he never would have before.... Holy cow!! There is some definite divine intervention going on!! :)

Brooke said...

I love that you had this cool experience and I love that you shared it with us! It would be a lot easier for me to do missionary work if they would come to my door and ask me.

Wonder Woman said...

Incredible. Is there some way to look up missionaries in NJ? Good for you guys.

p.s. my WV is Moses.

mCat said...

Awesome experience! And lucky that you had the right literature at home. I'm afraid, I would fall short.....

and yes, I am getting caught up on your posts. Must say, I do ENJOY!! : )