A referral

Here is a story for you!
Just before 7 on Saturday morning we got a call from Pres. Bullock that we should check our email and that there was a time sensitive referral on it. It is only the second email referral we have received since we got here, which is not really surprising as probably 75-80% of the population don't have electricity, let alone email. Anyway, the email was from a man from Mzimba which is about 3 hours north of here. He was in Lilongwe on business and he wanted a Book of Mormon but he was leaving about 1pm to go home. He is an elected member of parliament and had just finished the current session. We were just trying to decide if it was too early to call him when he called us. We had another appointment first off but we agreed to meet him at his hotel about 10:30.
The first trick is always to find the place in this city that has no maps, few signs and a minimal address system. Again, Elder Prete is amazing. With only minimal phone directions from a member who lives in that area, he found it. After the requisite pleasantries, we just had to know how he heard about the Book of Mormon so he told us the story.
 He told us he had found a copy of the Book of Mormon (maybe a triple we think) in a university library in the 90's and had read it for a few hours and then put it back.  Since that time the things he had read have been weighing on his mind. From time to time he would look for a copy in stores and libraries etc.  Every time he would study the bible, the book of Mormon would come back to his mind and he would search again for a copy unsuccessfully.

Finally a few weeks ago, it was really driving him so he decided to try and download a copy.  He googled Book of Mormon and that led him to LDS.org where you can request a copy.  He clicked on the icon and was asked to input his contact info and within a few minutes was contacted from the call center at the MTC in Provo.  They taught him for an hour on the phone and determined where the closest missionaries were and sent the referral. 

We met with him for a couple of hours and taught the first two lessons.  He was convinced that the Lord had led him to the Church and wanted to be baptized.  The problem is he lives over 4 hours from the closest branch which is here in Lilongwe.  We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and some other literature and invited him to study and contact us when he is coming back to the city.  He sent us an e-mail asking again for baptism.  He has also spent a couple more hours talking with missionaries from the call center.

Unfortunately we are encouraged not to baptize people who are far from any established branch. He will be back in Lilongwe.............sorry, gotta go again