“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, of
a truth I perceive that
God is no respecter of persons
But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted with him.”
Acts 10:34-35
March 2012, I was in Mexico City serving as a missionary. I was a
new missionary and my companion was Elder Smith from California. One day we
were walking down the street of a quite colorful neighborhood. Ever since I was
young i found joy on talking to random people on the streets so, being a
missionary was my dream come true. My companion had a shy personality. I wanted
to have an impact on him by showing him that talking to everyone is the key of
our service. In that particular day I saw an old man that did not look that
friendly and had very old and dirty clothes. I told Elder Smith: Look! Let’s
talk to him. He answered in a sarcastic way saying: Oh yeah, for sure he will
listen to us!
I approached him and introduced ourselves, he invited us to his
little 6 x 9 ft room in which he had all his belongings. We took a sit and he
told us with a big smile: I've been waiting for you for long time, teach me. He
accepted the gospel and did everything within his power to prepare for his
baptism.
It was a humbling experience for us, it was a representation of
the love of God and how He is in fact not respecter of persons and we should
not be either.
Our Father loves each one of His children and his greatest desires
is to allow all of them to receive the invitation to come unto Christ and know
of His goodness. After the day we found Edmundo we decided to talk to everyone,
he showed us that there many people around us that are prepared and with a
great necessity to hear the good news, that there is a Savior ready to heal
their wounded souls, strengthen their feeble knees and restore their broken
hearts. The experience with Edmundo changed everything, we became machines of
contacting and we baptized 4 people, including Edmundo, during the 3 weeks I spent
with Elder Smith.
