Personal Narrative Rough Draft

This is still definitely a rough draft, but this is what i have so far.

             I remember timidly walking up the short stair case dressed in my white shirt and tie.  I stood on the front porch for a moment and gazed at the door, with my dad standing right by my side.  I slowly reached out, knocked on the door three times, and then stepped back to wait.  This was a first experience for me.  My hands were sweaty and my heart was racing.  What must have been just a few seconds seemed like an eternity as I waited for the sister to come to the door.  A short woman, probably in her mid forties, opened the door with a smile and said in a friendly voice, “Come on in guys!”  I smiled, shook her hand, and then walked in and found a place to sit   on the soft leather couch. 

            “How have you been?” asked my dad. The conversation started and I had no intention of joining in.  I sat there quietly hoping that she or my dad wouldn’t ask me any questions or direct the conversation to me in any way.  I had no intention of talking, other than sharing the short lesson that I had prepared beforehand.  Thankfully my dad did pretty much all of the talking.  He had been home teaching this sister for years, and both got along very well.  I on the other hand, barely knew this sister at all.  I may have seen her in the congregation at church a few times, but I had never talked to her before. 

            After the conversation died down, the time had finally come.  My father leaned towards me and said, “Well, Brandon has prepared a little lesson for you.”  This was the part that I was nervous about.  I had no idea how I could possibly teach something to this sister who had way more gospel knowledge and experience than I did.  After all, I was only twelve years old and she was at least thirty years older than me.  I had just barely entered young mens as a deacon.  What could I possibly teach her that she didn’t already know?  I had to read the First Presidency Message over and over before I had a good understanding of the message that was being told.  I was so nervous about this lesson that I had a hard time concentrating on the reading and actually understanding it.  I read the talk multiple times to make sure I wouldn’t forget it.

Ready or not, I began the lesson that I had prepared from the Ensign.  I told her the name of the church authority that gave the talk as well as the title of the talk.  I then quickly began to summarize the main points, or at least what I thought were the main points, of the message.  I followed my notes and underlining very closely to be sure not to mess up.  I probably didn’t look up once during the entire lesson.  Once I had covered the main parts of the speech, I closed with, “in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”  I had no desire to make the lesson any longer by adding my thoughts or by bearing my testimony so I sat back in the couch and waited for my dad to take over again.  Thankfully he did.  He asked, “Is there anything we can do for you?” and then we closed with a prayer.  We left the house and hopped in my dad’s new Toyota Camry to go to our next appointment.

Our next two appointments were to two older couples, one was active in the church and the other was not.  In fact, the husband had never been baptized into the church but the wife had.  Both of these visits went like the first.  I sat quietly in my seat as the conversations went on and only talked when spoken to.  Once again, being shy, I had no desire to talk to either of the couples unless I absolutely had to.  I would have been perfectly fine with my dad talking to them the whole time and me never even saying a word.  Unfortunately for me, that is not how it worked out.  I repeated the lesson for each family in the same manner as the first and closed

with, “in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”  I had survived my first round of home teaching.

Six years later I confidently walked up that same short stair case for the last time.  I stood on the porch, dressed in a white shirt and tie, with my dad by my side, and knocked on the door.  The door opened and I excitedly exchanged greetings with the sister I had come close to over the past six years.  I had recently graduated from high school and was soon leaving home to attend college at Brigham Young University.  We had a lengthy conversation about my plans for the future including college, a mission, and life after that.  I enjoyed my time visiting with her in her home and I actively participated in the conversation.  I didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least bit being in her home and home teaching her.

            Once again, the time had come.  My dad leaned in my direction and said, “Well, Brandon has prepared a lesson for you.”  I had prayerfully read and pondered the message and I was well prepared to give it.  I began by introducing the title of the talk that my lesson was based off of and the church authority that delivered it.  I then began to discuss some points in the talk that I felt were important and that I felt she needed to hear.  I added my thoughts and feelings into the lesson and then asked her for her thoughts and feelings.  I gave her a challenge which she accepted and then I concluded the lesson by bearing my testimony.  Following the lesson, the sister said, “Brandon, some day you will be a great missionary.”  That really meant a lot to me.  I thanked her for the compliment, and we said a prayer and were on our way.  I left grateful for the opportunity that I had for the past six years to serve as her home teacher.  I developed social skills and people skills that will be beneficial to me later in life.  I became comfortable talking to others about gospel topics and I learned how to effectively prepare and teach a lesson.  These skills will prove to be very valuable down the road as I serve as a missionary and try to bring others unto Christ.