Rachael: "it's fun to find - all the time!"

The title of this post is from a song we liked to listen to in the car about trying to find people and invite them to learn more about Christ all the time!

This story is one of my favorites (I might be saying that a lot as I write these each week)! This story is somewhat like the last one I wrote in that it's about how explosions of faith cause miracles.

I was with Sis. Todd for this one (we were together for 6 months!) out in the good ol' La Jolla Single's Branch. We had been having a difficult time finding new people to teach (seems to be a common theme for many missionaries) and were feeling a bit discouraged. We prayed about what we should do and had the inspiration that we should talk to at least a certain amount of people a day. I don't remember how many people it was, but I remember that it was a whole lot! So many, that if we didn't talk to almost everyone we saw, we wouldn't reach our goal. We did really well with it for a few days and then P-day rolled around. On P-day we usually spent a lot of time writing letters, cleaning things, and getting ready for the rest of the week... and not a ton of time around other people. So, we decided that we would reach our goal of contacting that huge amount of people while we were out doing our grocery shopping.... and let me tell you, it's a bit awkward to talk to people in the middle of grocery stores in Southern California. They just don't know what to think! We had never actually shopped at Albertsons before because it was more expensive, but something told us we should just go. If I remember right, we actually got lost going to the store we usually go to and saw the Albertsons and decided we'd rather go there than keep searching for the other store. So, we went shopping and contacted a ton of people.

Unfortunately not a single person we talked to was interested in learning more and we were feeling a bit discouraged. Here is the key - never give up! There were just a few more people we could talk to... so we talked with our cashier and then with the sweet girl who bagged our groceries. Golden. Melinda, as we came to know her, was not only willing to meet with us, but seemed eager as well. We were thrilled that we got a phone number!

Well, we felt pretty good about what we had done.

Sadly, we couldn't get ahold of her for weeks and weeks. It seemed like the number she gave us wasn't even hers (it was an old lady on the answering machine). We went back to Albertsons and didn't see her there. We had about given up on her :(

Then one day we were perusing through our contact lists and saw her name and felt like we should call it again... she answered!! And she was upset at us for not having called before (we did, I guess she didn't get the messages!). We set up an appointment and the rest is history. I'll tell more of her story later... but for today just know that miracles do happen when we show our faith... even if the miracles do not manifest themselves right away. It took months to finally see the results of really putting forth our faith and contacting a ridiculous amount of people. But, God did show His power and that He was working with us. Word of advice to missionaries - contact everyone, even on P-day because you never know who you'll run into! They could be ready for the saving powers of the gospel of Jesus Christ :). I think that really goes for all of us... we should be continually inviting others to be part of this wonderful Gospel and have the blessings that we so often selfishly keep to ourselves!