My companion and I had been tracting all day with minimal success.
As we walked down a particular street I noticed a lady’s house whom we had contacted three months ago. She had been taught by missionaries many times in the past and had been close to baptism at one point, but ultimately decided not to be.
When we had gone by to see if she might be interested in meeting again, she told us she would be but her husband wouldn't allow it. We told her a bit more about the Church and explained a lot about the Prophet and Twelve Apostles which she was very interested in. She told us she would look up Thomas S. Monson and get in contact with us.
So here we were three months later and we hadn't heard from her. We continued to tract her street. I just kept praying that Heavenly Father would tell us where to go. I felt we should go knock on the lady’s door but quickly ignored the feeling saying to myself, “No, she will contact us”, and “It will be awkward if we knock”.
We continued to knock on doors and then it came again, almost like words in my head saying “Go knock on her door”. So we went and knocked. She answered and was so happy to see us. She had looked up the prophet and the Church and said she just couldn’t bring herself to believe in it.
It turns out she was going through a divorce and some other hard things. With her husband gone she was more open to the idea of talking to us. We were able to share a bit more with her and then asked if we could say a prayer. She said that we could but after that, she would be turning us away forever, so we wouldn’t waste our time.
I offered the prayer and in the middle, I paused for quite some time searching for the words to say. I prayed for peace and then closed.
Afterwards, the lady was almost in tears. She asked my companion how often I pray for peace. He responded that I never do. She said that throughout the prayer she had been saying in her head “Peace! Pray for Peace.” and I did.
In the hymn, Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire, the first verse reads: “Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed, The motion of a hidden fire, That trembles in the breast.”
She was overjoyed and touched by the spirit and invited us to come back another time.
We stopped by a few days later only to find that she had moved and we had no way to contact her.
Even though we didn't get to see her again that experience was a testimony to me that God answers prayers and that he is leading and guiding his missionaries.
I hold onto the faith that she will someday meet missionaries again wherever she is and remember the experience she had. Heavenly Father knew she needed peace at that point in her life and allowed us to bring that to her.
President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle said: “Put difficult questions in the back of your minds and go about your lives. Ponder and pray quietly and persistently about them. The answer may not come as a lightning bolt. It may come as a little inspiration here and a little there, ‘…line upon line, precept upon precept….’ (Doctrine and Covenants 98:12). “Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some from hearing speakers. And, occasionally, when it is important, some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration….” (Prayers and Answers, Ensign, Nov. 1979, 21).
I testify that the spirit is real and every day, by listening to its promptings, we can make a difference in someone’s life even if it is something as simple as a prayer.