Dear Family,
The weather here has finally started to shift so there is less rain and a lot more sun. I have forgotten how very hot the sun is here in Orange Walk. But it is great and I am very happy that the rains are fading away. haha
We have been seeing a lot of miracles lately in our area. They are small miracles but to me and Sister Pocock they mean so very much. About two weeks ago we showed up to the house of Mirta Chan. She was baptized about 1.5 years ago and is incredible. She is always trying to share the gospel and help the missionaries. She told me one day that she works so hard because she wants a temple here in Belize. Ahh. I wish everyone would have that vision! Anyway, we showed up to her house to teach one of her neighbors and it turned out that her nephew, Ramon, and his girlfriend, Myrah, had just moved in with them. So we met them and started teaching them too. Ramon is super smart and loves to study all the time so he was over joyed when we gave him the Book of Mormon. They have both been looking for the true church because they recently came from a little village next to Guatemala that was super super corrupt. They were a little odd but we were excited to have someone new to teach. Well they have progressed so fast. They loved church when they went the first time. They felt the spirit there. They have read and prayed about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Ramon told me the other day that he is 200% sure that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and restored the true church.....WHAT?!?!?! That is something that I have NEVER heard in my mission and will probably never hear again. They are just super super positive and ready to hear and accept the gospel. Ramon studies the Book of Mormon with the seminary study guide for hours and hours each day. Myrah is shy and has started working all the time so we haven't been able to talk to her much but they both want to be baptized. They have to get married first though (that is quite common here in Belize). So we are planning the small wedding and baptism for the
16th of February. Everything was going well and then Myrah got the job and has to work every
Sunday morning and couldn't go to church. We fasted and prayed for a miracle and a friend of her boss was able to talk him into giving her just an hour off in the morning to go to sacrament meeting. MIRACLE!! Satan is working hard against them but we just know it will all work out. A few months ago I had been praying for Heavenly Father to bless me with an investigator who would actually read the Book of Mormon and love it like I do, for someone who would understand the gospel and love it like I do. This experience has been incredible so far and I know that the Lord has answered my prayers.
We have also been working for months with the Vargas Family. They have been together for 25 years and are not married. They have about 8 kids too but we have mostly just worked with the parents. We have fought and fought to help them but Brother Vargas just won't stop drinking, it is so very sad. But we started trying to teach one of their daughters a few weeks ago. Her name is Karina, she is 22 and has two little girls. At first she didn't seem very positive but we have been working with her. She has a friend who is investigating the church too and that has really helped her to progress. The other day we came for our appointment and she had just gotten off of work, had to change her daughters clothes, and was just feeling very stressed; you could just see it. She sat down and was trying to skim the chapter of the Book of Mormon that we had given her to read because she hadn't had time to read it earlier. We saw her stress and told her to not worry, we could read the chapter together. After reading it and talking about it, I asked her how she felt when she read the Book of Mormon. She the expressed the great calming affect it had had on her. She had had a crazy stressful day but all of those feelings had just flooded out of her as she read. We helped her see how that was the Spirit telling her that it is true. Then we invited her to be baptized. She said she wanted to think about it so we invited her to pray and ask God if she should. Fast forward until a few days later: she hadn't come to church because she was doing her laundry, and she wasn't home for our appointment so we stopped by to check on her and set up another appointment. She had actually read the whole chapter that we had left her and so we left her more to read before out appointment. I asked her it she had been praying about being baptized. She said yes and that she had basically made her decision. We didn't have time to really talk it all out but I asked what decision she had made. She said "yo creo que si!" HURRAY!!! She has basically decided that yes she will be baptized. The Lord is truly blessing us with miracles!
Well I love you all. Thank you for the emails. I hope all is well, that Lisa has a great baby shower, that everyone travels safely, and that Adam has a great birthday!
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