This week we saw miracles, and learned a lot about ourselves and the love that Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us. :)
At the moment we're teaching a lady named Mari. She was a referral from the Primary President in our ward. We met her at a Family Home Evening that Bertolina (Primary Pres.) invited us to. The first time we shook hands she was very polite, but timid and cold... Just not quite as open as your average Dominican. I found it strange, but after Bertolina told us a little more about her situation I understood why...
Mari is an incredible woman. She is of humble circumstances and has been blessed with some special trials... But, regardless of the hardships, does everything she can to push on. Her 9 year old daughter, Juliana, is mentally handicapped. She was born retarded, along with some deformities of her face and mouth. Due to the struggles of their past, mainly financial, Mari and Juliana's biological father are indefinitely separated. He comes around every once in a while to see them, but essentially Mari is on her own. With the help of friends, her own hard work, and government organizations, she's been able to afford a major surgery to fix the main deformities in Juliana's mouth. She does everything she can with her limited resources to protect and provide for the special spirit the Lord has entrusted her with.
Bertolina was a god send for Mari, because she also has a special needs daughter with a similar syndrome and she's faced many of the same trials along the way. For the last couple of years Bertolina has acted as a second mother and/or mentor for Mari; offering love, support, and advice on all things special needs. She's always tried to keep her advice giving primarily focused on the situation, but has always leaned heavily on gospel principles for help and further explanation... :) And that's how God prepares people to accept the Gospel. :)
After inviting Mari to attend church and participate in family home evenings and the like, Hermana Bertolina decided she was ready for the missionaries. :) She had us over to meet with her in a Family Home Evening (no pressure situation), and then left it up to us! ha. She told us she was gonna help us make contact and then bow out for a while, because she doesn't want Mari to feel like she needs to take the discussions and do all the things we tell her to just because "that's what Bertolina wants."
Well... our first couple visits were awkward... ha. We talked to her and she opened up a little bit, but mostly just listened to us ramble. She would just look at us through empty eyes with an expression of complete apathy on her face. We invited her to read and pray, and she said she would, but we didn't see much progression... We thought, "maybe she's too busy to read.. Or when she reads she just doesn't understand much..." So we read with her.
We kept going like that for a couple of weeks and constantly invited her to pray about what we were teaching, and also to come to church and "try it all out for herself." Then... one Sunday she did!! Ha.
Since then, she's been moving right along in her spiritual progression. She's opened up a lot more in lessons, she accepted a baptismal date and she even shared some of her life story in our investigator class yesterday. She expressed the pain and stress she's always felt from having a special needs child. She's always asked herself "why me?" and "what did I do to deserve this punishment..?" "Were my past mistakes big enough to merit all this..?" It was really cool to watch how quickly the other investigators, the teacher, and the other members present jumped in to explain that her trials are NOT a punishment from God. He LOVES her, and He trusts her enough to take care of Juliana. He also knows that Juliana is EXACTLY what Mari needs in this life to grow and progress to become like Him.
Man, I love being a missionary. I'm so blessed to see first hand the healing, saving power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's been amazing to see the changes Mari has experienced through the knowledge and application of Gospel Principles. :) She's changing. And she's accepting Jesus Christ as her Savior and Redeemer. :) His gospel is the Good News. It's peace that comes with knowing that He loves us, and that everything that happens in our life happens for a purpose. There are no such thing as destroyed lives or stupid decisions. We all make mistakes. And He understands. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He'll ALWAYS be there to support and love us as we make our way through this mortal life.
I don't believe in perfection... I believe in eternal progression. God knows we make mistakes. We're all human. But if we trust in Him, and keep moving forward He will help us change. Yeah, it's not easy. He never said it would be. But it's worth it.
I love you all. I hope you realize that. Thank you for all your love and support.
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
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| A wicked cool sunset and an activity with Hna Santa and her girls. Both from my intercambio with Elder Aguare (the Guatemalan in the picture with Hna Santa). 11/20/13 |
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| Me. :) 11/24/2013 |
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