Be Faithful and Keep the Commandments

By Juan Carlos Porcel

After I had the privilege of speaking with Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I felt an even stronger desire to represent the Lord as a full-time missionary. Elder Scott rested his hands on my shoulders and said, “Be faithful to the Lord and keep His commandments, and He will inspire you!” This counsel gave me a great feeling of peace. I left my home in Mercedes, Argentina, on 24 March 1996 en route to the Argentina Resistencia Mission.

One day my companion and I did a lot of walking. All our appointments had fallen through, and this area had not had a baptism for nine months. But we were not discouraged—on the contrary, we had a great challenge before us!

As we walked, we both felt inspired to visit a lady we had met days before. When we got close to her house, we felt led to her neighbor’s home. Her neighbor very willingly listened to us, and we both felt the Spirit while we told her about God and Jesus Christ and the role of Joseph Smith.

After a while, I gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. When I did, she explained, “My father was killed a month ago. He was a member of your Church. Although he did not go to church very regularly, he loved the gospel.” Then, as if it were nothing, she added, “He appeared to me in a dream and told me someone would give me a book. He begged me not to reject it for anything because in it I would find the right way!” Then she continued, “Now I know you are the ones from my dream.” I was astonished, but I felt very encouraged to know that there is missionary work on both sides of the veil.

As I served my mission, I thought about the sweet look on the face of Elder Richard G. Scott as he told me, “Be faithful to the Lord and keep His commandments, and He will inspire you.” That’s just how it is.