Tender Mercies in the TKM: Samantha

by Elder Pollister

Samantha’s story begins with me and my companion, Elder Zabriskie, attended a baptism in the Bearden Ward. It was such a meaningful experience we both were inspired to go and find those that God has prepared.

We felt prompted to go to a place far north in our area in West Hills where we felt people would be more receptive to our message. We knocked doors for quite a bit with no success until we decided to try somewhere else. We looked at our Area Book to try and find somewhere to go and Elder Zabriskie suggested that we should go to a media referral on the other side of our area. That really didn’t make much sense because it was far away and we didn’t have much time left in the night, but we decided to go.

We found the media referral and talked to him, but he wasn’t very interested. With just a little time left in our day and a determination to find those God has prepared, we decided to knock doors in the complex where this media referral lived. This was a complex that we had never been to before to find. After a few unsuccessful contacts we went up to the second floor and we were going to continue to knock the rest of the second floor. It was then that I saw a door on the first floor and felt impressed to go and knock on that door. So we went back down the stairs to go knock on the door, and that’s when we met Samantha.

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We were definitely led by the Spirit that day. Samantha said she had been recently looking for a church and also been wanting to get closer to God. She was currently attending another church which invited her to be baptized but she didn’t feel right about it.

We proceeded to teach her the Restoration. The Spirit there that night was very strong, so we invited her to be baptized in this first lesson. She said yes…that she and she felt right about it.

Samantha wasn’t ready by the date we originally set for her baptism, but her commitment continued to grow as we taught her and as we resolved her concerns. We had a member come to each lesson and the Lopez family helped a lot in making Samantha feel comfortable in church . They also played a big role in helping her understand the doctrine and how it would bless her life.

Samantha had a lot opposition from friends and family about her decision to be baptized. As she continued to study in the scriptures and especially the Book of Mormon, her testimony grew. Over time, she realized the importance of making covenants from reading in the scriptures, listening to conference talks, and hearing the testimonies of members of our ward.

Samantha decided that baptism is something she wanted to do, and after much preparation and consistent study she made the decision to be baptized on January 6, 2024.

This decision made a lasting effect on Samantha. She especially loves that she now has the Spirit with her always.

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#TKM Tender Mercies