Hola mi familia y mis amigos,
Well on Wednesday we have our next set of transfers (when our mission
president tells us if we will be changing to a new area of Salt Lake City), so
for the first time in my mission I might be moving out of Rose Park. Don't
write any letters this week because I'll probably be changing addresses on
Wednesday.
Highlight of the week: the baptism of Maribel.
I can't remember how much I've written about Maribel, so I'm just simply go
to give an overview of how her entire life has been preparing her for the Gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Maribel grew up in a Catholic household, similar to probably 90% of the
Catholic people that we teach. As a little girl, she developed a great love for
the Bible and has studied from it her entire life. During her studies as a
teenager, she read the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus 20. When she read
the second commandment (verse 4 and 5), she became very confused with the
Catholic Church and the worship of Saints and the Virgin Mary. So between that
and other parts of the Catholic Church, Maribel decided she didn't believe it
was true and left it at that.
Once she moved her to Utah, she learned quickly that "when in Rome, do as
the Romans" and began to hide whenever missionaries knocked on the door. (Sorry
to break it to you, but as missionaries we knock on doors all day, everyday. We
know without a doubt when someone is home and just not answering and when no-one
is home).
Not long after moving to Utah, she met her husband Johnny and the two of
them have been together for 8 years now.
Four months ago, my companion (Elder Moczygemba) and I went to the house of
a women who asked us to visit her. She wasn't home at the time so we decided to
knock on the next door neighbor's house as well. A man in his 20s (Johnny)
invited us in and after a few minutes of talking, said he wanted to introduce us
to his wife.
Maribel came out of hiding in the kitchen and we began to talk with her.
We shared to story of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the
prophet Joseph Smith and invited them to be baptized in the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saint. She said she wanted to pray about it (which is
exactly what we were going to invite her to do anyways) and we set up a return
appointment and then left. And for the next two weeks...we couldn't contact
them...so we stopped trying.
A month later when Elder Camacho and I were riding out bikes one afternoon,
we decided to stop by and see if she was home. She was.
She immediately apologized for not answering the door before and said she
was scared of us (who knew that a skinny white guy with a part in his hair was
scary). We set up an appointment for the next day and when we came bike, she
had a Bible open and was ready to talk with us.
We shared with her the Plan of Salvation (for any questions on that...ask
my brother Kevin or send me a letter) and she felt the Spirit testify that what
we taught was true (because it is). She told us she wanted to be baptized and
then set the 2nd of September as her baptismal date.
Maribel told us multiple times that this Gospel is what she has been
searching for her entire life. She has never been happier and now is working
with her husband to help him learn of the same truths. She wants more than
anything to have an eternal marriage in a Temple of the Lord (none of the "til
death do you part" stuff) and begin a family here in this Church.
The Lord prepares people from the moment they are born (actually...even
from before that).
-Elder Colton
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