Let’s face it, not every missionary will end up in Brazil and have the blessing of baptizing 50 beautiful families into the church. Not every member missionary will be able to baptize all his co-workers – and that’s okay. For those who don’t, have faith and trust in the Lord that your efforts will be accepted by Him and turned into something more marvelous than you can imagine.

Here are 3 missionaries who never saw the fruits of their labors in the way they intended, but boy, did they ever make a difference!

Editors Note: this article was originally published on I Love the Book of Mormon.

1. Samuel the Lamanite

You remember Samuel. He was a Lamanite sent to enemy territory among the Nephites in the land of Zarahemla. After attempting to teach the people for many days, they kicked him out! He was walking back home, most certainly in a depressed state and God told him to go back. So he turned around, couldn’t get admittance into the city, climbed the wall, and from there preached to the people a powerful message of Christ – all the while dodging rocks and arrows. Those who were angry with him became so irate that they eventually started climbing up the wall after Samuel, so he fled and was never heard from again.

What Samuel didn’t know was that many believed on his words after hearing him speak and went to find Nephi and were baptized. Still others, after witnessing the miracle that Samuel couldn’t be hit by the rocks and arrows, also sought after Nephi to be baptized.