WEEK 51

Yesterday Sister Hsiao and I had a couple minutes before we were scheduled to serve at the Visitors' Center. As we were about to drive up to the Temple from one of our investigators' home, Sam Li came to my mind again. Remember Sam Li from June 2007? Sister Scholl, Hsiao and I had Fast-Tracted into this family. I called Sam every week during that transfer to invite him to church, but he never made it to church. Two days before I transferred out of Chinese branch, Sam called me back because his dying father had dreamt of Jesus Christ even though he never knew about Christ. I left Oakland 2 days later, hoping the Elders would follow-up on this matter. When I came back to Chinese branch in November, Sam had not met with missionaries yet, but Sister Lu and I couldn't set up a time to meet with him all last transfer. So finally yesterday, his name came to my mind again. Sister Hsiao and I went to his home and rang the doorbell. Sam's mom answered the door and told us that Sam was at work. We got to talking and I asked if she was Sam's mom…then we asked about her husband and his dream. As we talked more, tears came to Mrs. Li's eyes. It is about exactly 2 months since the passing of her husband. She misses him a lot and was very sad when we talked about him. We told her that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God, and that one day she too will be united with her husband, and have the opportunity to return with her family to be with our Heavenly Father. Although hesitant at first, Mrs Li's heart was softened and she agreed to learn more about the Plan of Salvation. In those short few minutes before going to serve at the Visitors' Center, Sister Hsiao and I made an unplanned visit – a short "side trip" to the Li's. But in those short few minutes, we had experienced a sacred moment in our missions. The Oakland California Mission has a motto called "And then some…" As we work to do more, to go a little further, we find joy in doing the "and then some..." as our Heavenly Father opens up doors that we could not have done by ourselves.