Early one Sunday morning in October 2005, Elder Laman Castellanos and Elder Jonathan Bowen, two missionaries serving in the Mexico City North Mission, were rushing to get to Church on time. They were walking quickly when a man who appeared to be heavily intoxicated flagged them down. He was with another man who appeared to be a friend also intoxicated.

Although at first hesitant to respond, the missionaries decided to stop and speak with the men.

"My friend here is an alcoholic and needs your help," the missionaries remember the man saying. "Will you share your message with him?"

The Mormon missionaries shared a brief lesson of the purpose of life and shared their testimony of the restoration of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the men, Hector Hernandez, liked the message so much that he wanted the missionaries to come to his home. The missionaries learned where he lived and planned to return to his home in a few days.

"When we arrived, we were surprised to be greeted by a well-dressed man and his wife," said Elder Bowen. "Hector looked entirely different. He was wearing slacks and a button-down shirt."

His wife, Maria Eugenia, was in a nice dress, and they welcomed the missionaries into their beautiful home. It was much different than the missionaries had anticipated. As they sat down before the lesson, Hector shared with the missionaries that it had been a long day, mainly because he couldn't wait to hear their message. He had stayed sober so that when the missionaries came he would be able to comprehend the message they had to share.

At that time, Hector was a raging alcoholic, and doctors had warned him of the life-threatening condition he was in. He was very ill, he was in debt and his wife was on the verge of leaving him.

After hearing the message of two Mormon missionaries, Hector decided to change his life and turn to the Savior. Within four weeks he stopped drinking, he had a plan to get out of debt and he repaired his relationship with his wife.

"In my short 24 years, I have seen few examples of greater faith than that of Hector and his wife," Elder Bowen said. "They were both baptized on Nov. 27, 2005."

Over the next few years the Hernandez family had its ups and downs, but were able to overcome their challenges and are now an anchor of faith and commitment to the gospel in their ward," Elder Bowen said. "On March 19, 2009, I had the opportunity to attend the sealing of Hector and Maria Eugenia in the Mexico City Temple."

The intoxicated man who flagged the missionaries down was never seen again. The address he gave did not exist, and Hector had only met him minutes before talking with the missionaries.

But Hector and his family are eternally grateful he stopped the missionaries that day.