Editor's note: There are many angles to this story that have been reported. LDS Living has chosen to share the uplifting response of love from a grandfather and has posted the elder's story in his own words in the video below. We understand this video description has created some controversy, and we have added new details to provide context, but we explain our initial editorial decisions here.
Kaydin Abdul Karim Alabbas was at a difficult place in his life. He was supposed to report to the MTC the next day, but he had no desire to serve a mission and had just announced to his family he had no intention to serve. In addition, his family left him in the middle of nowhere, not knowing who to turn to.
That's when Alabbas's grandfather found him. "I don't remember the conversation exactly, but in the conversation, he told me, 'If you don't want to serve, no one is going to make you serve. We're still going to love you. You are still our grandson. We are still going to love you and support you no matter what you do. I am not going to make you serve a mission, but what I am going to ask you to do is to give it a chance. Go to the MTC and give it all you got,'" Alabbas explains in a video on Facebook.
The next day, Alabbas arrived at the MTC, but he still needed to develop a testimony for himself whether or not he should be there.
While in the MTC, Elder Alabbas had the chance to teach a man from Argentina who noticed something different about the LDS family he was staying with in Utah. At the end of a powerful discussion, Elder Alabbas's companion asked this young man if he would be baptized.
"He started to cry and the Spirit rushed into the room and he said 'yes,'" Elder Alabbas says in the video. "And we asked him to give the closing prayer and he gave the most heartfelt prayer I've ever heard and I don't think I'll ever forget it. But I remember walking out of the room and I was like, 'Shoot, that means I am going on a mission. This is why I am here.'"
From that moment on, Elder Alabbas knew for himself that his mission was where he needed to be.
Watch the video below to learn more about his story.