June 15, 2015
Hola Familia,
PO! I just love, love, love, my compi and I
together! Everyone says that we are TRUE sisters, which is a compliment
for me because she is perfect! As you all know, I love CHILENAS.
The stress is there from working as lideresas and covering 2 wards, BUT we LOVE
all the work. It makes us feel ALIVE! ;)
An update on some of our investigators…
Out of ALL the couples that we have helped marry...NOT ONE
of them were as happy as HILDA y ANDRES! They were smiling...and when I
say smiling I mean SMILING! :D Teeth and all...but not in the pictures, not
sure why? HAHA! Hilda kept saying "Hermanas,
I just feel SO good, there is something in my heart telling me that I KNOW I am
doing the right thing!" We are SO happy for them and even happier that a
year from now they will be able to seal their love in the temple for an eternal
friendship!
Jose Quinteros was working in the mountains all week, and is
now having spinal problems, so we haven’t seen him ALL week...SATAN. It
never ceases to amaze me at HOW much Satan works on those who are about to get
baptized. BUT, with faith and love and a
little pixie dust (that could be referred to as the Spirit) Satan will never
win!
Talking about Satan messing around with our investigatores...Fernando´s
girlfriend told him that he shouldn’t get baptized so quickly and that we just
want him to get baptized for his money. LIE. We are hoping to talk
with him this week and explain about tithing and help him remember WHY he
should be baptized.
The story about Virginia is SUPER long, but here is the
short version. About 2 months ago, Hna Blacutt and I witnessed a
motorcycle accident where a man was thrown off his motorcycle and into a wall. I won’t go into much detail, but let me say
it broke my heart...and even more when I saw his dear wife CRYING
uncontrollably asking for help. I remember her desperate cries and her eyes
fixed on the heavens begging that her dear husband would be ok.
Now fast forward to a few weeks ago on Mother’s Day. As we were out walking, talking to any MOM
that we could find on the street and giving them all a big hug to let her know
she is loved (since we couldn’t hug our own moms, we hugged everyone else’s), we
formally met Virginia. She invited us to come back the next day, which we
so cheerfully did. That day she began to explain how her husband had
passed away just a few weeks before, only 2 blocks from their house in a
motorcycle accident. My companion and I
just looked at each other and I felt a strong impression "you were
there..." DING! It finally clicked in my head who she
was...she was the dear wife of the wounded man on the street calling for
help. We testified to her of the Plan of
Salvation and that families can be together after this life. She begged US to help her and while looking
at the heavens once more, asked God to make it possible to see her husband again.
SHE is un AMOR [a sweetheart]! Virginia didn’t attend Church yesterday
because her mom was sick and she needed to take care of her, but we hope she
comes next week!
OK now for THE greatest story ever. GOLDEN
INVESTIGATOR alert! His name is
Manuel. His daughter, Dianna, is the young women’s president of one of
the wards here in Buena Fe. She was
baptized when she was 15, she is an adorable orthodontist, AND 28, and single. (I told her to come and live in Utah and she
would get married just like THAT!) Over the past 13 years since his
daughter was baptized, Manuel had never attended church until yesterday! So how did that happen?
Dianna and I are really close. She is always telling me about her dad and I
ALWAYS felt that one day we should meet him, but that would happen when the
time was right. A week ago on Sunday night Dianna called us with a
reference for us to teach her sister-in-law.
We set up an appointment for this past Wednesday BUT when we showed up,
we found out that her sister- in-law had gotten sick from a mosquito disease
here called Chiconguya so we couldn’t go and visit her. BUT guess who was there? HER DAD!
Manuel invited us into their home and was incredibly kind. As we sat down, right off he just started to
share all of his experiences of how he KNOWS that God is real and that He hears
his prayers. HE taught more in the lesson than we did. ;) He accepted our invitation to go to
church on Sunday and he came…all handsome in a WHITE SHIRT. And since Heavenly Father has a perfect plan
for everything, in the Sunday School gospel principles class the teacher taught
about the Plan of Salvation, which was inspired because Manuel’s son passed
away about 4 months ago. After the class
was over Manuel said, “Hermanas I am never going to stop coming to church.
NEVER! For the first time, someone explained to me where my son is and I
want for him to receive the missionaries in the spirit world and be baptized as
well.” AWWE!
Oh wait it gets even better.
We stopped by his house after church on Sunday and as soon as we entered
Manuel greeted us with the question, “Can you ladies help me be baptized?”
UMM YEAH! He is beyond anxious for his baptism which is set for
JULY 4th. Looks like I will
be celebrating the 4th this year with a big water splash and
fireworks of the spirit! ;)
Finally, Familia Bone (the huge family of 15) are still great,
but because we were in Guayaquil and the dad is constantly working we haven’t
met with them much. BUT 2 of the family came
to church on Sunday!
OK! I almost forgot.
Remember Mabel Bermeo (we started teaching her here in Buena Fe and then
she moved to another town)?!?! Well the elders told me that she is
getting BAPTIZED next weekend! WAHOO! I am beyond happy for her and
I hope I can attend her baptism if it isn’t too far for me to travel.
Also last night we had a Family Home Evening with ALL the
young couples in the ward, and I made lasagna and garlic bread! Thanks
for teaching me mom. ;) Everyone loved it!
Let’s just say it was a REJOICING EVERMORE kind of
week!
Love you all,
Hermana Bartholomew
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