A Story from Scott's Mission

 

Skyline of Little Rock, Arkansas

Scott served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission. He served in Memphis, Tennessee, and Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as a few other places.  His last area was in Little Rock. This story is about a woman he baptized named Glenda Bennett.

Two missionaries named Elder Smith and Elder Stanger knocked on Glenda's door but Glenda was really busy at that moment. Among other things, she was trying to clean her house but the plug of her vacuum had gotten stuck in an outlet and she couldn't get it out. She told the missionaries this and one of the missionaries had been an electrician so he offered to get it out for her. He was successful and they made an appointment to come back and teach her.

Sadly, I have no picture of Glenda with Scott but here she is with a couple of other missionaries from his mission whom Scott served with. (Glenda is on the left)

Before the appointment happened however, Elder Smith was transferred to a different area and Scott became Elder Stanger's companion. At the first appointment, Glenda argued with them a lot but Scott had the impression that Glenda would be baptized. When they went to the car to go home, he told his companion this but his companion didn't believe it.

They continued to teach her but after a couple of months Glenda moved out of their area. So they handed her off to the missionaries in her new area and they didn't hear anything. When Scott had about one month left of his mission, he thought about Glenda and called the missionaries that had been teaching her. They told him that they had dropped her and were no longer teaching her. So Scott called her up and started teaching her again. He was working in the mission office and had more latitude in where he could teach.

She was still arguing a lot and was having trouble making a decision about being baptized. One night Scott had a dream that they were teaching her and she was arguing. So he said, Let's read the First Vision. They read it together and then, in the dream, she said, I know it's true! Scott woke up and felt full of hope.

That day they had a lesson with her and it went like the dream he had except that she did not respond the way he had hoped. Instead, she said that she just couldn't get an answer to her prayer. So Scott said, why don't you try telling the Lord you're going to be baptized and if you're not supposed to do that, then ask the Lord to stop you from doing that.

So she decided to do that. She got baptized a few days later, the night before Scott went home.

She continued to correspond with Scott and a little while later she called him after reading D&C 9:7-9. 

But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you musttask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that yourrbosom shall;burn within you; therefore, you shalllfeel that it is right.

Glenda asked Scott, why didn't you tell me about this?!!!

When Glenda had read the Book of Mormon, her heart had felt funny. She had actually made an appointment with a cardiologist because of this sensation! The cardiologist had checked out her heart and said there was nothing wrong with her. But when Glenda read those verses, she realized that is what she had experienced.

Personally I'm don't think I have ever experienced this sensation, but I have experienced answers to prayers in other ways. For Glenda, this was her answer but she didn't recognize it until later.

After Scott and I started dating, I met Glenda. She was a great friend to us both--she sold us our first car for a bargain price. We don't hear much from her but we send her a Christmas card every year and she complains if we don't send it!

Here's a picture of Glenda at our wedding, right of Scott. Others in the picture, left to right: my brother Neil, Scott's friends Gaylene and Dale Christensen, my friends Annette and Amy Pew, Paula, Scott, Glenda.