One by One :)

This last week was one of great joy!  [Our wonderful investigator] was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He is a happy man :)  I have so much respect for him and am so grateful that the Lord allowed me to get to know him as my brother.  It has been a wonderful journey with him, and I am blessed to get to see it go even further while I continue to serve here in Shreveport.  It was also special because Sister Boehula got to come back for the baptism along with her two companions (Sister Cottrell and Sister Harr) from Minden!  It was a wonderful service, and I feel that [this brother] really understands the purpose of the gospel and Jesus Christ, our purpose as missionaries, and his purpose as a son of God.  It was wonderful :)

We also had 3 investigators - besides [the one who was baptized] - come to church on Sunday!  It was wonderful!  They are all doing great and overcoming challenges as they come closer and closer to Christ.

Sister Giddins and I also had a great experience teaching mission prep yesterday.  We went into young womens and young mens during church to announce it, and we had 4 from our ward show up!  It was great!  It's a stake mission prep class, so we also had 2 others come from another ward.

I'm still really pondering the phrase "one by one" or "ministering to the one."  It's been on my mind all week and we applied it in mission prep yesterday as we only took about 15 minutes of the hour we had to open and do a "lesson."  Then we broke off into threesomes - 2 youth and one missionary - until the last 10 minutes. The youth got to practice talking to each other about the restoration as if they were talking to a non member friend.  Throughout the practice they could ask the missionary questions or for help.  I got to observe all three groups as we had one extra missionary.  It was amazing how they opened up when they were in a small group with one missionary and one friend.  The spirit was strong in the room and I knew that the Lord was teaching each one what they needed at that time.  I could feel the strength of these youth and felt such excitement for what they will do to change the lives of many ones.

I know that the Lord truly does minister one by one.  I am gaining a strong testimony of that fact, and how it happens.  I am learning how to apply that principle to my life as I interact with investigators, members, and missionaries.  I know that this principle is so important.  As I read this morning from the account in 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon about when Christ came to visit the people here in the Americas, it talks about how He visited with them one by one.  It says,

"And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell‍ to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied‍ among them that Christ should show‍ himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.
 And it came to pass that the Lord‍ spake unto them saying:

Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust‍ your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel‍ the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God‍ of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did‍ feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come."

Later we read that there were 2500 people there...that's a lot!  As I pondered what this experience must have been like, the thought came to mind, One minute with the Savior one on one would have more impact than a day of listening to Him in a crowd.  I know that the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father work with us and love us one by one, and truly it is the "small and simple things"  that let us know of this one-by-one love.

I hope that we too can love one by one.  If we could do that, barriers would fall, peace would abound, and understanding would increase.  I know this is important to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  As Elder Rasband said in a talk in Oct. 2000, "Perhaps never in the history of mankind do we need to be serving on a one-by-one basis more than we do now."

I love each one of you very much, and hope to love you better.  I know our Heavenly Father is aware and cares about our individual needs and circumstances.  I hope that we will each ponder a little bit more so that we can do those "one-minute" things that will help us to love one by one.