Thursday, January 27, 2011
Nice Letter (Mike)
I received this letter from the lady from Las Vegas who came to the fort on the advice of her Bishop. This was her second anniversary of her baptism and confirmation. She said she had been having struggles with her faith, and had never read the Book of Mormon. She said she had visited two Stake Presidents and two Bishops along with one of the members of the 70 in SLC. She was coming to Cove Fort for a spiritual experience on her special day. It was a slow day, so I spent two hours with her in the Fort, listening to her and giving my counsel. It was kind of like being a Bishop again. This is the letter she sent me and an excerpt from Elder Holland’s talk given in the 2009 October general conference, which I encouraged her to read, one of the best I’ve heard, and one everyone should re-read, testifying to the importance and truth of the Book of Mormon.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
More Great Experiences (Mike)
A couple of days ago, a guy from Hinckley, Utah came by. He had equipment that would allow him to take panorama pictures of the fort inside the rooms and outside the fort. I spent a couple of hours with him taking the photos in some of the rooms and the blacksmith shop. He has already posted some of them on a site called 360cities.net. They are pretty cool. They will eventually be posted on Google Earth.
Yesterday, I had a black van pull in that was quite interesting. When I first met the driver he was a cocky Hispanic guy, wearing a wife-beater shirt, and muscles on top of muscles. He asked what this place was and if we had a roller coaster in there. I explained what the fort was all about. The guy in the passenger’s seat looked like a gang banger. They went and parked the van, and the guy and his wife and cute little four year-old girl came over and asked for a tour. As we went through the fort, I watched the spirit work on this guy and humble him almost to tears. When we finished the tour, they wanted the Book of Mormon and the missionaries. He couldn’t express his gratitude enough for their experience in the Fort.
Today, an SUV pulled in and two couples from California got out and asked for a tour. They were probably in their mid fifties, and were on their way to SLC on business. I showed them the Cove Fort Video, and took them to the fort. In the second room, I overheard one of the ladies quietly say to the other, “this place has a good feeling.” I wonder how many times I have heard that. It’s great. They really enjoyed the tour and one of the couples wanted the Book of Mormon, and the Missionaries to come by.
As they were leaving the parking lot, I happened to be outside, and they stopped the car to take more pictures. I asked the driver,(The one who wanted the B of M) What business he had in SLC. He said that he had invented those cardboard, fold-up emergency toilets. I told him I had bought one and had given them to family members as well. He got all excited and had everyone get out of the car and have pictures taken with me. He also said he was going to send me the new and improved version of the toilet. What a day!
Yesterday, I had a black van pull in that was quite interesting. When I first met the driver he was a cocky Hispanic guy, wearing a wife-beater shirt, and muscles on top of muscles. He asked what this place was and if we had a roller coaster in there. I explained what the fort was all about. The guy in the passenger’s seat looked like a gang banger. They went and parked the van, and the guy and his wife and cute little four year-old girl came over and asked for a tour. As we went through the fort, I watched the spirit work on this guy and humble him almost to tears. When we finished the tour, they wanted the Book of Mormon and the missionaries. He couldn’t express his gratitude enough for their experience in the Fort.
Today, an SUV pulled in and two couples from California got out and asked for a tour. They were probably in their mid fifties, and were on their way to SLC on business. I showed them the Cove Fort Video, and took them to the fort. In the second room, I overheard one of the ladies quietly say to the other, “this place has a good feeling.” I wonder how many times I have heard that. It’s great. They really enjoyed the tour and one of the couples wanted the Book of Mormon, and the Missionaries to come by.
As they were leaving the parking lot, I happened to be outside, and they stopped the car to take more pictures. I asked the driver,(The one who wanted the B of M) What business he had in SLC. He said that he had invented those cardboard, fold-up emergency toilets. I told him I had bought one and had given them to family members as well. He got all excited and had everyone get out of the car and have pictures taken with me. He also said he was going to send me the new and improved version of the toilet. What a day!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Missionary Work (Mike)
We had a total of 1,316 referrals, (member and non-member referrals) which broke the record of 1,276 in the past years, and we had 50 more non-member referrals (people who referred themselves) than previous years.
The total visitors at the fort for this year was 75,376; surpassing the recent history record of 73,273.
Yesterday, we had only two visitors stop at the fort because it was so cold. I took the first tour which was a lady from Las Vegas. As I began the tour, I asked if she was LDS. She said yes and this was the day of her baptism two years ago. She said her bishop had recommended she stop at Cove Fort on her way home, Because, she wanted to have a spiritual experience on this special day. That put the pressure on me. She had many concerns and questions. It felt like being a Bishop again. She wanted to talk and explained that she had never had a spiritual confirmation that the gospel was true. As I listened to her, I was able to point out when she had indeed had a spiritual confirmation.
We discussed the 46th section of the D&C where it speaks of spiritual gifts. The first gift has to do with being able to know truth by spirit to spirit confirmation directly by the Holy Ghost. The second gift is being able to know truth by listening and believing through the spirit, the teachings of others. Some get a confirmation by the first gift of the spirit and others get it by the second gift of the spirit. She was getting ready to go to the temple for the first time, and had never read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. I had some advice for her about reading the Book of Mormon and other things.
What I told her seemed to meet her needs, and she was happy with the new insight. When we finished the tour, I realized that I had been on the tour for two hours.
Her husband was a non-member, so we are sending him a Book of Mormon and some videos by way of the missionaries. I hope it all works out.
The total visitors at the fort for this year was 75,376; surpassing the recent history record of 73,273.
Yesterday, we had only two visitors stop at the fort because it was so cold. I took the first tour which was a lady from Las Vegas. As I began the tour, I asked if she was LDS. She said yes and this was the day of her baptism two years ago. She said her bishop had recommended she stop at Cove Fort on her way home, Because, she wanted to have a spiritual experience on this special day. That put the pressure on me. She had many concerns and questions. It felt like being a Bishop again. She wanted to talk and explained that she had never had a spiritual confirmation that the gospel was true. As I listened to her, I was able to point out when she had indeed had a spiritual confirmation.
We discussed the 46th section of the D&C where it speaks of spiritual gifts. The first gift has to do with being able to know truth by spirit to spirit confirmation directly by the Holy Ghost. The second gift is being able to know truth by listening and believing through the spirit, the teachings of others. Some get a confirmation by the first gift of the spirit and others get it by the second gift of the spirit. She was getting ready to go to the temple for the first time, and had never read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. I had some advice for her about reading the Book of Mormon and other things.
What I told her seemed to meet her needs, and she was happy with the new insight. When we finished the tour, I realized that I had been on the tour for two hours.
Her husband was a non-member, so we are sending him a Book of Mormon and some videos by way of the missionaries. I hope it all works out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)