We returned that following week to an open door and a bright smile. Nancy let us inside where she lived with her daughter and led us past a packed bookshelf full of novels and encyclopedias. We sat down and she began to jaw away at the problems that had confronted her that week. We listened through her countryside Flemish accent until she pulled out her "Boek van Mormon" with her bookmark placed 1/3 of the way deep in the pages. Without hesitating she began asking us questions. "Who is Laban? Why did Nephi have to build a boat?" were just a few. With smiles on our faces we read and answered her questions in connection with the restored gospel.
Nancy had much against churches, common among Europeans in the geographical area, and promised us she would never join ours. She had salty experiences in the past with different churches and vowed to never allow herself to join one - and she still hasn't. In fact, she never came to church with us even once. We taught her weekly over the span on 2 months and helped her through trials on a spiritual level while her thearpist helped through logic. Soon enough, light became visible in her eyes again. Graciously she would thank us for our willingness to listen and support her - two American boys living miles away in the city - as the "Mormoned missionaries". We maintain contact on facebook still.
My purpose in sharing the gospel was fulfilled, not by baptism but by invitation, and it led a legacy for the remainder of my mission. I knocked real doors to invite others to come to Christ, to learn of their story and how mold the gospel to it as a solution. Now with many memorable experiences and friends as results, I use facebook for the sole purpose of reknocking those doors - each post another opportunity for the beloved Dutch and Belgian people to feel, reach for, and accept the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
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