My companion, Elder Sam Gordon, and I received a referral from a member to deliver a copy of the Book of Mormon to a man named Quentin who was interested in learning more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On Sunday, September 20th, 2020, we planned on taking him a copy in the afternoon. Because Canada is a multi-cultural country, we try to be ready to share a variety of translations of the Book of Mormon. As President Ezra Taft Benson prophesied, we should have the vision of “Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon” (Ensign, Nov. 1988).
Additionally, we needed to retrieve a Chromecast streaming media player that the Spanish-speaking missionaries—Elder Parks Hirsche and Elder Tanner Heninger (who were serving in the Monterey area of Montreal)—had borrowed for a baptismal service. Our plan was to meet them at the Acadie Metro Station to pick up the Chromecast, and then we would deliver the Book of Mormon to Quentin.
Responding to Promptings from the Spirit
As Elder Gordon and I were about to leave the apartment, I felt that we should take with us a French Book of Mormon as well. Even though we had been told that Quentin speaks primarily English, we both chose to listen to this spiritual prompting.
The Prophet Mormon taught this important principle of discipleship as he abridged the records of the Nephites and Lamanites, “The Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do his will” (Words of Mormon 1:7). So, Elder Gordon grabbed the French copy, and we departed with copies of the Book of Mormon in both languages.
We drove to the Acadie metro station. As I was stepping out of our car, the English copy of the Book of Mormon caught my eye. I took that as a prompting and grabbed it just in case we met someone who wanted one. We wandered around in the metro station for quite some time looking for the Monterey elders.
Eventually we called them and arranged to meet at the escalators. We were at the bottom looking up when we finally saw them. They were standing at the top talking to a man.
We walked on and began to ride the escalators up towards them. When we were about a quarter of the way up, Elder Hirsche noticed us, and they excitedly began to ride the escalator down. Elder Hirsche beckoned to the man to follow them by saying, “Hey! Come over here!”
When we met going in opposite directions, Elder Hirsche looked to us and hopefully asked, “Do you have a French Book of Mormon?”
Initially, I thought, “Well shoot! I almost got that prompting right.” I had only taken the English book from the car.
Desperately, I looked down to Elder Gordon riding behind me on the escalator. To my great and thankful surprise, he pulled out the French copy and held it up. Then reaching it across, he handed it to Elder Hirsche who immediately handed it to the man who had followed them. The look on his face was priceless!
Simultaneously, Elder Heninger quickly got the Chromecast out of his bag and handed it back across the escalator to Elder Gordon in return. The exchange on the moving escalators took place in the space of about three seconds, and we both went our separate ways and responsibilities.
Serving as Instruments for Christ’s Hands
As we continued on our way to meet with Quentin and give him the English copy of the Book of Mormon, Elder Hirsche and Elder Heninger called us about five minutes later. They thanked us for having a French translation of the Book of Mormon. It turned out the interested man had actually just approached them when they arrived at the Acadie Metro Station. He had asked them for a French copy, but they didn’t have one. They were overjoyed that we had been prompted to bring one.
I can only imagine what was going through the investigator’s head. He saw first-hand the Lord’s expert planning skills facilitate a seamless fulfillment of his inspired request to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Elder Gordon had received a prompting about the French Book of Mormon when he was exiting the car, and I am glad that he also followed the guidance of the Spirit. The Lord truly used all four of us as instruments in his hands.
I have learned this inspired counsel to be true: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).