There are two specific instances from my mission where the Spirit was so strong and unbelievably thick and powerful during discussions, when we shared the Restoration of the Gospel, the First Vision, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

Glen and Melanie

The first was in my greenie area of Medicine Hat. My trainer and I were doing some street contacting in a shopping area, and we talked to a younger couple on the street, Glen and Melanie, who seemed very interested in hearing our message. We set up an appointment for a later date.

Transfers happened, and my trainer was sent to a new area. My new companion, Elder Willis, and I were tracting on a “random” street, and we happened to knock on their door the day before our scheduled appointment. They were available at that time, and invited us in to hear our message. We taught the first discussion.

I don’t know why, or what it was about that particular lesson, but the Spirit was so strong. It was thick, everyone felt it, and we were all elevated to a very high level. Glen and Melanie commented about the feeling they had as we shared the message of the First Vision and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

Afterwards, Elder Willis said it was a “Celestial” discussion. We talked about how good we felt and how it was one of the most amazing experiences we had ever had in our lives.

How is it that nineteen and twenty-year-old kids could have one of the most profound experiences of their lives from knocking on doors of strangers in Canada?

Was it a rush from adrenaline, some chemical emotional reaction, or a sense of accomplishment because we thought we were convincing someone of something we would be rewarded for?

I don’t think so. I don’t believe that motivations like that could sustain a voluntary workforce of missionaries in the prime of their lives, doing something so difficult with no temporal advantage.

The reason we had one of the most amazing hours of our lives was because a member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost was there testifying of truth. It was a witness of goodness and truth, a feeling that goes beyond emotion or excitement.

I don’t know what ever happened to Glen and Melanie. While I was there, they never did get baptized or join the Church. But I do know that on that day, all four of us felt something spiritual, a witness from the Holy Ghost. That experience is still something I remember 27 years later.

Lethbridge Discussion

The second vivid memory of a powerful spiritual manifestation came about a year later when I was serving with Elder Oldham for the second time in Lethbridge.

I don’t remember how we got in contact with the couple we taught, whether we had a previous appointment or if we were just tracting and they let us in. It was a Native American couple, and they lived in a split-level house with other people. Normally, as missionaries, one of the first things we try to do is create a learning atmosphere by removing distractions so the Spirit can be present.

That was the case with Glen and Melanie. They were a young couple with no kids. Their home was quiet, and it was an ideal setting of reverence. But in this Lethbridge discussion, there were people watching TV in the room below us and several potential distractions. We met in a small kitchen that wasn’t exactly spotless, and yet, as we taught the principles of the Restoration, the Spirit was incredibly strong. It was thick, powerful, and moving.

During the lesson when we recognized the spirit, we talked about how we all felt at the time. The brother we were teaching said something like he felt he was being elevated off the ground as we testified of the truths of the restored Gospel.

I don’t remember anything else about that family or whether we ever even taught them again, but I remember how strong the Spirit was. It was real. It was from God. It testified to them, and to us as missionaries, that Joseph Smith was indeed called as a prophet of God.