First Monday Trade Days

The First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas is the biggest flea market in the state. It is held every weekend before the first Monday of the month. It has been held every month without fail since the 1800's. Elder Twitchell and I had the idea of setting up a booth and trying to give away free Book of Mormons and DVD's. We were blessed to be given a spot for free since we were non-profit. We arranged for different Elders and Sisters throughout the zone to take turns running the booth. To make it as exciting and inviting as possible, we made carnival games where kids could win candy and materials as prizes. 

It was really fun, but we weren't able to attract very many shoppers. The booth was open from 9-5 Thursday-Saturday and we maybe gave out 15 Books of Mormon and 20 DVD's (knocking doors does about just as well) so we weren't too thrilled. But we understand that we weren't there for any of the shoppers. We were there for Lori, the jewelry vendor next door.

We met Lori Wednesday night. It was 9:15 and we had just finished setting a few things up to prepare for the next day. She was setting up her booth as well. We might not have talked to her, as we were in a hurry to get home to be home on time, but we felt we might aught to, so we did. We got talking and found out Lori has incredible faith in God. She's had 4 open heart surgeries, 6 seizures, over 200 strokes, been run over by a car, shot in the chest, struck by lightning twice, and even woke up in a body bag one time. She said that she's come to know God through those struggles. We asked her if she believed that a living God would have a living church, and she said yes, but that she had no idea where she might find such a church. We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and how by reading and praying, she could at least come to know whether The Restored Church was truly Christ's church or not. She practically yanked that Book out of my hand before I could even offer it. She mentioned that she was looking for something that could help support the Bible, as the Bible has been translated and published in so many different versions. When she found out that the Book of Mormon had only been translated once, and that there existed only one version of it, she was ecstatic.

Through the course of the three days, Lori talked to every missionary that came out to station the booth. She brought her kids, who played every game we had dozens of times, and took home and watched every DVD we had to offer. She defended us when people were rude. She read the first few chapters of the Book of Mormon. She asked all sorts of questions about the church, which we enjoyed answering. We are excited to meet up with her this week!

Love y'all!

Elder Stephen Watts

PS. Thanks to all those who wished me happy birthday! I will be drinking that ice water on the rocks later tonight ;)