The day after John baptized Jesus, he was standing with two of his disciples as Jesus walked by.  He said to them, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

The two disciples, Andrew and John, left their master and followed Jesus.  Jesus, perceiving that He was being followed, “…turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?  They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

“He saith unto them, Come and see.”  (John 1:36-39).

This encounter changed their lives.  They walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, and were invited to abide with Him that night since they were far from home and it was already 4:00 in the afternoon.

The first thing Andrew did the next day was to find his brother, Simon (Peter).  “We have found…the Christ,” he eagerly told him, and took Peter to see for himself.  (vs. 41-42).

The next day Jesus found “Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.”  (v. 43).

Philip immediately went in search of his friend, Nathanael, “and saith unto him, We have found him…Come and see.”  (vs. 45-46).

Ken Simon is a 20-year-old convert to the Church who was baptized just six weeks ago.  I particularly like this smiley, personable young man, and go out of my way to pick him up and bring him to institute class two times per week.  He is very excited about everything he is learning.  As I took him back home Friday evening he said, “Elder Kerns, I saw a friend today that I knew from Malekula Island.  He asked me what I was doing.  I told him that I joined the Mormon Church.

“He said, ‘You joined the Mormon Church?  Why?’

“I told him every something about the Church, and told him about the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  He told me, ‘I want to join this Church.’

“Would you like to meet with the sister missionaries?” I asked him.  “He said, ‘Yes!’  So tomorrow I am going to take the sisters to his house.”

On Sunday I took Ken to Matevulu College to be the speaker there for sacrament meeting.  On the way back he said, “I took the sister missionaries to meet with my friend yesterday.  We taught him and his mama and papa and his two younger sisters.”

“How did the lesson go?”

“Oh, they are very excited.  We’re going back again tomorrow.”

Ken has been a member for only six weeks, but he’s sharing his excitement.  “Come and see,” he told his friend.  “I have found the Christ.”  Ken has already received the Priesthood, and blesses the sacrament each Sunday in his Banban Branch.  He blessed the sacrament in our meeting at Matevulu.  Next he’ll be able to use his Priesthood to baptize his friend and his friend’s family.

On my way to pick up Ken Friday night I passed a man at a remote intersection who waved familiarly at me.  I didn’t recognize him, but stopped and backed up to speak with him.  “Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going to pick up Ken Simon and take him to my institute class.  Do you know Ken Simon?”

“No, what is institute class?”

“It’s a class that the Church has every Wednesday and Friday evening for Young Single Adults.”

“What is a Young Single Adult?”

“It is any unmarried person between the ages of 18 and 30.  How old are you?”

“Oh, maybe about 28.”

“Are you married?”

“No.”

“Then you’re a Young Single Adult.  Would you like to come to my institute class?”

“Oh, yes, I would like that very much.  Today I was just reading the book that you gave me.  I read about the 3 witnesses and about the 8 witnesses and about Joseph Smith.  I am very interested to learn all that I can about this.”

Ten days ago there was a death in the family of our neighbors who live through a block of bush from us.  This is an Anglican family who are our friends.  We could hear the wailing that came from their house.  I walked over to offer my condolences and the use of our pickup if we could be of any help.  They replied that they needed firewood so that they could feed everyone who would be coming to their house.  Six men climbed into my pickup, and we were dispatched to Banban to pick up the firewood.

The man who sat up front with me on the trip was this same man with whom I stopped to visit along the road.  His name is Edgel Fox.  He speaks very good English.  He asked me the inevitable question:  “What are you doing here?”  This led easily into the explanation that we are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Edgel is actively seeking the truth, and was interested in everything that I had to say.  I keep copies of The Book of Mormon in the console beside the seat in the pickup.  I’ve given away a hundred copies.  I took one out, wrote a note in the front of it that included my name and phone number, and gave it to him.  He accepted it eagerly.

“This is another testament of Jesus Christ,” I told him.  “It is a companion book of scripture to the Bible, and proves the Bible to be true.”

In essence I said to him, “Come and see.  We have found the Christ.  You can see for yourself.  This will change your life.”

I dropped a bunch of boys off for an overnight fishing expedition at Palekula.  I went back at daybreak to retrieve them.  On the way back to town seven of them rode outside in the pickup bed, but the other two were in the seat behind me.   As I was visiting with them I said to 17-year-old Grem, “Is it true that your mama and papa are getting married next Saturday?”

“Si.”

“And then is your mama being baptized the next Saturday?”

“Si.”

“Do you get to baptize her?”

“Si.”

Grem and his 18-year-old sister, Pauline, are already members of the Church.  They’re both preparing to serve missions.  Their mama has been watching them, and has observed what the Church has done for her two oldest children.  She has been meeting with the missionaries, and has been bringing her five younger children to church.  The example of Grem and Pauline has been a come and see invitation to their mother.  Their papa is still not interested, but it will be Grem’s privilege to baptize his mother and to eventually baptize his five younger siblings.

The other young man sitting in the back seat was Mansop, another 17-year-old boy.  He is the only member of the Church in his family.  But lately his younger brother, Dani, has been coming to all of the activities that the church boys have.   Dani was one of the boys riding in the back of my pickup.

“Is Dani meeting with the missionaries yet?” I asked.

“Sometimes.”

Dani looks like a very good boy.  It will just be a short time before Mansop baptizes his brother.  Then Mansop, and later Dani, will both go off on missions where they will tell many other people to “Come and see.  We have found the Messiah.”

This is the beauty of the Church.  The message is being spread one person at a time.  It’s not necessary to argue or cajole, to beg or coerce.  All we have to say is, “Come and see.  I’m excited!  I have found the truth.  You can see for yourself.  We have found the Messiah.  Read this book.  It tells all about Him.  It proves the Bible to be true.  This will change your life.  You’ll learn how to repent, and how to be happy, and best of all, how to return and live with Him.”