As you may remember, I had quite an experience when I was in the area called "Peckville." There, I gained a testimony that the Lord puts people in our paths, and truly, everything happens for a reason. Well, something I didn't mention at the time, but my companion and I found, and began teaching a man by the name of John. We had just happened to walk by his house while he was out on the porch doing some homework. We stopped by and struck up a great conversation about life, challenges we face as humans in today's society, and of course, God. Over the course of us talking, I could feel that John and I had a connection, that I had known him for awhile and we were just some long lost friends. Things just clicked all of a sudden for the two of us, and we became great friends. This conversation lasted about an hour or so, and at the end we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and explained a little bit about what it was, and how it came to be. The next day he calls explaining that he couldn't put the book down all night; that he was in love with The Book of Mormon already. I couldn't believe it, and within 2 weeks, he had completed reading it. Now I was transferred away the following week, but he wasn't lost. He still continued to see the other missionaries in Scranton (since Peckville closed for a time) and he gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon just by simply reading it, and praying about it. I continued to encourage him by sending him letters, and on occasion I would see him and it would be a short sweet reunion for the two of us. (My new proselyting area, Montrose, wasn't too far from Peckville.) He often referred to me as his own personal Joseph Smith, who gave him something that he had been searching for his entire life, that finally brought him real happiness. He had been spiritually re-born.
John was baptized 15 weeks after the day we found him, and I was privileged to have been asked by John to perform the ordinance in the Susquehanna River, where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the Aaronic priesthood and were later baptized themselves.
John felt inspired that Elder Lloyd, the Elder who continued to teach John after I left and confirmed him the next day following his baptism, should be in the water also, because he too had that spiritual connection.
What a miracle! What a blessing! I know that God indeed does has a divine purpose for all of His children, that he truly puts individuals in our lives to bless and uplift our lives. Heavenly Father cares, and I testify that this truly is the Lord's kingdom on the earth today. I know that it is by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we find true happiness in our lives. I am so grateful that I was able to have come across John at the perfect time, so that we would be able to change one another's lives. I was meant to be in Peckville.
