While we were in Aruba a few weeks ago for Zone Conference we stayed a few extra days. Elder VV needed to do the financial audits for the Orangestad and the San Nicolaas Branch and the new ABC District.
We were there on Sunday so we went to the English speaking San Nicholaas Branch. When we arrived the Elders, Shepherd and Hunt asked if Elder VV could take them to pick up a new investigator for church.
Lionel saw the missionaries one day in December 2015 as they rode their bikes through town. He called them over because he had been looking for them. He asked them if they had a "purple book" called the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" .
Many years ago (possibly 3-7 years according to the missionaries names written in the tract) some other missionaries had met him on the street and offered him a "Blue Book" but he said no and wouldn't take it. He said that he was a 7th Day Adventist and that he didn't need any other religion. They offered him the purple pamphlet. At first he refused but then took it. He just put it on the shelf and there it sat for years. One day he had had a very hard night and was looking for God. He remembered the purple book and picked it up and read it. It made him feel good. He read the purple book every day from then on for years.
Now back to the present...Years later in December 2015, more missionaries were riding through town. He called out to them! "Wait!" He asked them if they had a purple "book." He didn't want the blue book they offered even though they said that the same stuff was in the purple book but more...finally he took it. He told them he lived "in the little white house over there" and then the Elders hurried off to the appointment they were late for... and forgot about Lionel.
February 2016 came and another appointment fell through. They had forgotten about Lionel but as they were thinking of who they should visit, the spirit reminded them both at the same time about Lionel. Elder Shepherd thought, "I wonder where Lionel lives?" and then Elder Hunt said, "Do you remember where Lionel lives?" They both had the same impression to find Lionel. They found him in the little white house.
He asked for another purple book for his son because, "He needs this too," he said. He asked them, "What church are you from?" They showed him the name on the pamphlet: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He asked, "Can I come on Sunday? Am I allowed to come?" That was the Sunday we were in San Nicholaas when Elder VV went with the Elders to pick him up.
The next Sunday when the Elders went to get him for church he was standing outside of his house waiting for them with a towel in his hand. They asked, "How long have you been waiting?" "Oh just for about a half an hour." "Why are you holding that towel?" they asked. "I wanted to be sure that I had a towel for when I get baptized." The missionaries explained that it was not going to happen that day. He said he was so excited about getting baptized he couldn't sleep all night.
Lionel is so excited about finding the Gospel of Jesus Christ he wants to tell everyone about it. He wants his family and friends and children to all come to his baptism so they can know about the wonderful news! The great plan of happiness and the peace he received when he read about the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" in the purple book.
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