As written by Sister Ruf
Sister Harpole and I were looking for someone that the missionaries had been teaching a few months ago. Every time we went to their house, a man would answer the door and tell us that we just barely missed them. We would ask him if he was interested in our message, and he would tell us no, and we would leave.
Then the next week we would try again to get into contact with those people, and the same scenario happened again.
This happened 3 or more times! The man would answer the door, and tell us the people we were looking for had just left.
The man who always answered the door was Brandon.
Transfers came, and we became a trio! On Sister Matheny’s first day in the mission field, we again went to try one last time to get in contact with the people who lived at Brandon’s house.
Once again, Brandon answered the door and told us that we just barely missed them. This time we told Brandon that it wasn’t a coincidence that it was always him answering the door and asked once more if he would want to meet with us. This time he said YES! He decided he would finally give these 3 persistent missionaries on his porch a chance. Brandon recognized that he wanted to turn his life around and help his 10-year old son, Dominic, grow up in a church.
From that point on, we began to have lessons with Brandon and Dominic. Brandon has gone through a lot of hard things, and he recognized that his life would improve if he started living his life for God. He and his son started to read the Book of Mormon every day together, began to live the commandments, and come to church every Sunday.
The members of the ward made an incredible difference. They rallied around Brandon and Dominic and helped them with the things they needed as they began their journey towards baptism. Beginning with their first Sunday at church, the members took them in. Before they could stand up at the end of Sacrament meeting, a little boy and his mother invited Dominic to attend primary with him.
One of my favorite experiences was teaching Dominic to pray! Brandon and Dominic were able to recognize the blessings of living the gospel. Dominic mentioned how much their life had improved in the past 2 weeks as they had started to meet with us and apply the things that we taught.
We invited them to be baptized and they were so excited! Dominic would need to get permission from his mother to be baptized, and through the power of our collective prayers, she gave him permission. Brandon was able to overcome addictions in a short amount of time with the help and encouragement of the members, and on September 16th & 17th Brandon and Dominic were baptized and confirmed.
Brandon and Dominic are proof to me that making covenants with God doesn’t make life easy, but it makes life easier as we yoke ourselves to the Savior!
Barlows in TKM 