The Best Day Ever!

Clarence's Baptism

"It's a great day to be a missionary!"

I know that this work in absolutely true because if it isn't I wouldn't be here for one second. I know that our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ lead and guide this work and we have the privilege of being their mouthpieces here upon this earth. C.S Lewis once said,"There are no ordinary people" and I echo his statement. There are people out there, extraordinary people who are waiting to hear the gospel. Clarence McGuire is one of these people.

A few months back Sister Schauer's and I were pretty exhausted and starting to get discouraged. We were knocking a particular street and were about to leave because after knocking quite a few doors nothing was coming of it. In all that we do though we try to find "the why" behind it. We knew Heavenly Father had guided us to that street for a reason and we didn't want to give up until we found that reason. So we decided to knock one more door. This door was on the very end of the street, the very last house, and as we walked up we saw a man outside listening to his radio. We thought it was a miracle just to be able to catch someone outside that we could talk to. Just yesterday Clarence shared his input and was joking cursing that dumb radio, because it was on so loud he didn't hear us walking up.  He claims he didn't have a chance to run from us. It wasn't your typical first lesson, but it was exactly what Clarence needed and what caused him to want to learn more.  We got into some very deep doctrine and began to teach him about the plan of salvation and the importance of the temple. The spirit was there and we knew he could feel something and we were hopeful for the future. We set up a time to come back and lo and behold when we went back, he wasn't there. Sister King and I were pretty depressed.  We tried time and time again to see him but every time we tried to visit, he was either sleeping or not there. Eventually after many attempts we decided that he probably wasn't prepared at this time and didn't want to learn more, but we decided to try just one more time,  just to be sure.  His step-son answered the door this time and explained  that Clarence was not there but miraculously the step-son came out and started talking to us. During that time we were talking, Clarence pulled into the driveway. "Ah-ha," we thought, "You can run but you can't hide." Just kidding, we do nothing to take away anyone's agency. Well, Clarence came and sat down and we had a beautiful lesson with him. From that day on he never once canceled an appointment. He was always there eager and ready to learn and he always kept his commitments, and more importantly didn't take our word for it but sought out answers on his own through earnest prayer. If we had just given up on him, which we were so close to doing, he would never have received the blessings of this gospel. Just two days ago Clarence, at the youthful age of 76 was baptized and yesterday he was confirmed a member of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Clarence with his family

Sister George made these darling skirts for us!

Brothers and Sister, family and friends-  whatever you may be going through the Lord is mindful of you. Do not give up when times get hard and things may seem impossible. Keep fighting and proving to the Lord that you are willing to go that extra mile. I promise if we walk a little further and exercise our faith, even though it may only feel like a small particle, the Lord will bless us.

It is a beautiful day to be a missionary! I love you guys!

Love Sister Mathis