If At First You Don't Succeed............

“If at first you don’t succeed perhaps sky diving isn’t for you”

This sign appears on a fence near the mission office. Sometimes members of the church feel the same way about missionary work. Sometimes we are afraid to try, and before we know it we have given up altogether. Thankfully the missionaries in the OEM don’t have that attitude.

The Assistants to the President have recently started “The Assistants’ Challenge.” They challenged one pair of elders to make thirty OYMs (Open Your Mouth) the next day. Those contacts can be anything from a door knock to stopping someone on the street. Thirty seems a lot, but the elders themselves changed it to forty! These missionaries had been praying hard for a family to teach, so they were up to the challenge and off they set the next morning to find their forty. During the day they knocked and talked and even had success with some, but no families.  By late in the day, they were tired and their total was only thirty-nine! They could have given up, but had promised themselves and Heavenly Father they would hit forty. Instead of going home they decided to knock on one more door. There they were invited in to teach a family of six! …..and they have another appointment! The Assistants called it the "Miracle of the 40th Door." Blessings come when we don’t give up!