First prayer by: Dean Hughes and Tom Hughes

  In 1963, Mary Ellen Edmunds and Carol Smithen became the first missioanries to work in Quezon City in the Philippines.  Later the city would become the headqurters of an entire mission, but at the time it was part of the Philippines Zone of the Southern far East Mission.  Eventually Sister Smithen recieved a new comapnion, and Mary Jane Davidson was assigned to work with Sister Edmunds.

Early the next year, Sister Edmunds and Sister Davidson were going door to door "tracting,'' and they were not doing well.  They really weren't in the mood to work that morning, and they stopped on the street, each said a silent prayer, and then they approached the next house.  When they rag the doorbell, an eye soon appeared in a little peephole.  The sister told the man on the other side of the  peephole that they were missionaries and would like to visit with him for a few minutes.

"I am cat-o-leek," the man said.  At that time, the missionaries did not learn the Filipino languages as they do now.  Most people did speak at least some English, but the sisters could tell that this man did not speak a great deal.  They both felt strongly prompted, however, to keep trying, and finally he agreed to let them come in.

The man told the isiters that his name was Felixberto S. Ocampo.  He was somewhat older man with an impressive appearance and dark, graying hair.  that hair, along with his kindly manner, reminded the sisters of  President David O. Mckay.

As the sisters sat down to talk with Mr. Ocampo, the Spirit was telling both of them not to present a lesson but to tell about Joseph Smith's first vision.  And so sister Edmunds told the story, using simple English words so that he could understand.  As she spoke, however, she was stuck by the way he listened with full attention and great interest.

When sister Edmunds finished the story, Mr. Ocampo's response was unlike any she had experience before.  "That is a beutiful story," he said.  "Can you tell me again?"

This time Sister Davidson gave  the account, and again the missionaries were moved by the great concentration and the conviction in Mr. Ocampo's eyes.  This time his reply was even more surprising: "This is a very beautiful story. Can you tell me one more time?"

The Missionaries had to take turns this time.  they were so moved by the spirit of this good man, the obvious joy he was receiving in hearing about Joseph Smith, that neither could talk very long without crying.  When they made it through  the story the third time, Mr. Ocampo asked, "Where is he now?"

The sisters told him that Joseph Smith was dead, and they were amazed to see how saddened Mr. Ocampo appeared.  He  had just heard the wonderful news that God had spoken to a man on earth, and now he was disappointed and sorrowful to learn that this prophet was already gone.  He  then asked, "How did he die?" The sisters were deeply hurt to have to tell him that Joesph Smith had been murdered.

"Why? Why did they do this?" Mr. Ocampo asked, with pain in his voice and his eyes. . . .

"If I have been alive," Mr  Ocampo said, in his halting English, "I will protect his life with my life."

Sister Edmunds and Sister Davidson reassured Mr. ocampo that a prophet was, in fact, still upon the earth, and they promised to return and continue to teach him.  When they arrived for their second visit, Mr. Ocampo told them, "Oh, Sisters, I have a beautiful story to tell you."  What he told them was the account he had read in a pamphlet that they had given him during their first visit.  It was the story of Joseph Smith's vision along with other events in his life rehearsed the story in such detail that they could tell he had read it many times. . . .

During one visit, the sisters asked Mr. Ocampo  whether he prayed.  "Oh, yes, sisters," he said (pronouncing the word "seesters'). "I pray  every day," So they taught him the principles of prayer and, from that time on, asked him to pray at the beginning or end of their meetings. He asked each time if it would be all right if he prayed in Tagalog, his own language.  They said that was fine.  They didn't understand much of what he said in these prayers, but they felt his good spirit.

Mr. Ocampo received all the missionary lessons with the same spirit, and he accepted baptism.  One Sunday soon after he was baptized, the branch president asked him to pray in Church, but Brother Ocampo said he couldn't.  The sisters were surprised.  When they visited him the next time, he explained.  "I want to pray the way you pray," he said, and it was only then that they discovered he had been saying memorized prayers, not speaking wrong, you can tell me."

They knelt together, and then he paused for a very long time as he considered what he wanted to say.  This was no ordinary event, the sisters realized; this man of faith was about to converse with the Lord for the first time.  He wanted to choose to right words.  Both sisters were weeping before brother Ocampo even began to pray.

He worked hard for the right English words as he began, but the sisters felt no need to correct anything he said.  Now and again he would stop and say,  "Sisters, this is very beautiful, no?"

They would nod, tears streaming down their faces. This was clearly the most beautiful prayer either had ever heard.

"If i am slow, will He wait for me?" he asked at one point.
"Yes, the sisters told him.  "Take all the time you want."

And finally he asked, "Sisters, does Heavenly Father know Tagalog?"

They assured him that the Lord knew every language, and in response Brother Ocampo asked whether he could finish in his own language.  They said he could, and then they heard him pour out his feelings fluently, in his native tongue, and they understood the spirit of what he said.

Brother Ocampo was a steadfast member of the Church until he died.  His faith was a power to all who knew him.

***The End***

Please share this message if you like it through the following social media sites below...thank you