Dear President Albright!
I love my mission! I have had so many experiences that have helped to strengthen my testimony. I want to share an experience with a family from India that we met and baptized. It truly is a miracle how they came to know the truth and be converted. The day we found them was just like any other day as a missionary. Before we left our apartment we prayed specifically to be guided by the Spirit to know where we needed to go to find those who would listen to our message.
As we went about our plans we ended up knocking on some doors that were fairly close to our own apartment. A woman named Sunita opened the door and seemed pleasantly surprised to see us standing there. After introducing ourselves we discovered that she was from India and she was a practicing Christian. We explained that we had a message for her that would bring her closer to her Heavenly Father. Sunita seemed pleased and asked us to come back on Saturday when her husband was home.
On Saturday, she anxiously invited us inside. We learned that the same morning we had knocked on Sunita’s door, she had been praying to learn how to pray and draw closer to God. Apparently she had offered up memorized prayers her entire life, but for some reason, this day was different. She told us that as she was praying the morning we first met, she began to feel that something was missing in her prayers and so wondered why her prayers felt meaningless.
She explained to us that she felt like her prayers were simply bouncing off of the ceiling. So instead of continuing with her memorized rote prayers, she then offered up a very personal prayer from the heart and asked God for help in learning how to make her prayers more meaningful. It was her first personal prayer using her own words, in her entire life! Just minutes later, Elder Sackett and I knocked on her door! She knew that we had been sent there by God in answer to her sincere prayers. She was a bit surprised though at how quickly her prayer had been answered!
Because of her sincere prayers, Sunita, her husband and two children, were all baptized a few weeks later. This has shown me the power of a sincere heartfelt prayer. We can never know when God is working behind the scenes, all we can do is work our hardest and do our best for each person we meet.
I know from this experience and countless others on my mission that God lives and that he loves everyone of his children. This is his true church. I love this gospel. I love being able to serve as a full-time representative of the Lord!
Much Love,
Elder Taylor Bell