George

During the October 2013 General Conference, the talk by Elder Ballard on missionary work was very touching to Jaren and he decided to follow Elder Ballard's council and invite someone to church. He thought and prayed about this for a long time. When we moved up to Montana and Jaren began school, he met George.

After school one day, Jaren told me about George. He was born and raised in Kenya, and moved to the States to attend college in Minnesota. He moved to Montana once he was accepted to PA school. Jaren said to me, "George is ready for the gospel, I know it! I am going to baptize him." He said that to me sometime in the Summer, but there was never a good opportunity to talk to George about the gospel until later on. It wasn't until we drove George home from a class Christmas party that Jaren invited him to church.

George and Jaren were talking about what it was like to live in another country. George asked Jaren why he lived in Brazil for 2 years and Jaren told him about serving a "Mormon" mission. George then said, "You are Mormon?! I have a friend who married a Mormon!" Jaren then invited George to come to church with him, and George accepted. After that, we went back to Utah for 2 1/2 weeks. When we came back to Montana at the beginning in January, Jaren asked George if he would still be interested in coming to church with us. George told Jaren he would still like to attend, and came to church with us that week!

When George came to church with us, we asked him if he'd like to stay for the first hour (sacrament meeting) or attend all 3 hours with us. George told us he wanted to stay all 3 hours, which we thought was awesome. After a few weeks, Jaren asked if George would like to have the missionaries teach him more about the gospel. George accepted, and we often had lessons over at our apartment, which was so fun for me to participate in, since I never served a mission.

Since that first Sunday in January, George has never missed church. He even called Jaren one Sunday (we were coming home from Utah) and GEORGE reminded US that church would be at a different time due to stake conference!

George accepted the invitation to be baptized, and Jaren baptized and confirmed George in March. Witnessing the baptism and confirmation was such a spiritual experience for me. I could feel the love of our Savior so strongly. I knew Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were so happy for George. I also felt so much love for Jaren.

George still comes to church with us, and we attend the Gospel Principles class with him. It is so amazing to watch someone learn, grow, and develop their own testimony of the gospel. I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life, and for all the hope, knowledge, and happiness it gives me.