the truth!

i've been wanting to share this since.... july 29th. haha. better late than never. this is from an email of an hermana i taught in the mtc who's now serving in Honduras. read on. (ps. she has got SO MUCH personality you can just sense it in this email!)

i have had a wonderful week and for this email i want to share a story of one of the most amazing families in the world.

one day all our plans fell through and it was hot and i was super fruterated becasue i fell twice. well we were walking down a hill and this lady starts walking towards us, well just up the hill in heels. we live in a pueblo with no paved roads mind you. so of course i look at this lady and ask her how on earth do you walk in heels around here. she laughed at me and said really carefully. haha so we got to talking to her and such and her son was talking to the missionaries in the city and that she had gone to church with him the day before and she loved it. 

well maria marta and us became rather good friends. we set up an appt. with her for the next day. we got all ready to go and visit her and when we got there her whole family was there. 13 people. they all sat quietly and listened to the message we had to share about the restored gospel. it was the most spiritual first lesson i have ever had. afterwards they asked us if we could come by the next day and teach them more, so of course we said yes. and it was the same. the spirit was so strong. like i have never felt before. everytime we passed by the spirit grew stronger and stronger. 

i quickly fell in love with this family. inviting them to be baptized was amazing!!! my companion did so. it was her first time and they all said yes. 7 fechas all in one day. 

the second week we were teaching them, luis, the father of the family, had disappeared. he had been gone for two days and maria marta told us that he went out drinking and that she hadnt seen him in a ton of time. well my heart broke. the next two weeks my companion and i along with our entire district fasted for them. they were present in my thoughts all the time. they were prayed for my every missionary in our zone. my heart was broken. it was a feeling bien feo. every day i worried for him and his family. 

one day after my companion and i began to lose faith, he showed up. he was sleeping in front of the elders home. we took him home and the elders got him all cleaned up and took care of him from there. well, after 2 more weeks he gave up drinking and everything in that family had turned around. there was light in their faces and the spirit was far more present in our lessons when the whole family was together. we continued preparing them for baptism and they had their doubts just like everyone else but they chose to do it. Erlin, the son, told us that he couldnt deny the answers that he had received from god and that he knew what he had to do. 

saturday the 27th of july came quick. we prepared everything for their baptism. everything was perfect, but they werent there. my companion and i decided that we would go get them. worried of what we might find we began to plead with God. we ran out of the church to got get the family abd as we come close to the brige near their house we see a huge group of people coming towards us. it was dark and we couldnt really see. but then we hear a Little girt scream las hermanas. my heart melted. i had never been so happy to see them. the whole family went. the whole family. all 32 of them were there to support maria marta, luis, and erlin. it was perfect. 

sunday the same thing happened. there wasnt enough room in the church for everyone to fit. it was beautiful. i cannot wait to see how they progress in this gospel. i love this family and i have been so blessed to have learned from them and have been able to be a part of this time of their lives. i will never forget this family. never ever. their names are etched into my heart.  

the gospel is true. the priesthood is real. prayer works. heavenly father loves us and is aware of us.

beautiful. and true. amen.