It really is nice to be a part of the two branches here, there are of course similarities and differences, but they are both so kind and welcoming to us. It is still so difficult for Hermana Chappell to not be able to talk with them and share more in the experience but she really is getting so much better with her spanish. Today in Church with all the "Happy Mother's Day" greetings, she has it down, "Feliz dia de Madre". They like to dress up here whenever they get a chance, today was no exception, not necessarily those at church but the people on the streets were all in nice dresses and hanging out together in groups all dressed up nice. It is a custom here to go to the cemetery to honor mothers that have gone on before.
This past Monday, Hermana Cuevas, who is from the Dominican Republic fixed a favorite typical lunch for us from her country. The dish is called "Mangu". There are several different varieties of bananas here, as well as in her country. It consisted of a fried egg, salami and mashed boiled green banana with onion marinade on top. It was quite tasty. She is the one in yellow in the picture. She was transferred to another area later that day and now there is an Hermana Ortega here from Mexico. It seems like these missionaries come and go way too fast. We really enjoy getting to know them, a little about their families and their journey in the church and what brought them to this point here of serving on a mission. These experiences we are having are so priceless. As difficult as it is to try to learn the language and culture and experience life here, it is such a blessing for us to be able to be here with these wonderful people.
We went out with the Hermana Missionaries and Brother and Sister Morales, the two on the very right side of the picture, yesterday afternoon. We met three different families. Our last stop was at this sweet sisters humble home, the lady sitting next to Hermana Chappell with her head bowed. She is a long time faithfull sister who has because of her declining health has been unable to attend church for a quite a while. She knows the Morales family and was so glad to have us there to see her. Her health is not very good, but she loved talking about the days when she was able to participate in the church and how she loved coming and being with all the branch members. They talked about the good old days for a while and then the Hermana missionaries shared a spiritual message then we sang the hymn, "Love At Home" and had a prayer with her before leaving. From the picture you really can't tell the circumstances that are her "Home". I have seen what I thought was poverty, but this was really heart wrenching. To see where some of these people call home and what their daily life is like is just a very sad and humbling experience. I cannot even begin to say how immensely I have been blessed in my life to have the people and places I have been able to call home, friends and family. It really was a tender experience to be there with her and share a testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. I know that He loves ALL His children and is with each of us no matter our circumstances. There are just so many who have absolutely nothing. The economic levels here are quite stark. There are homeless people we see who are unmistakable in how their lives are. There is this one homeless young man we see quite often who is obviously not mentally well. He is very active, walking usually quite fast up and down the streets, going through dumpsters looking for food and drink. Then after the homeless are people like this sweet sister who have no transportation whatsoever except their feet. She talked about walking all the way in to Tela to church and how there were several of them who would go together walking, talking and laughing back and forth to and from church. And how their lives were so much better with the gospel guiding them in all they did. After we walked down the street a little ways, I said to Hermana Ortega, "That is just about the most sad thing I have ever experienced." It was beautiful in a good way how the spirit was with this small sweet group of disciples there as we shared a gospel message and sang a Hymn of Zion. She knew this hymn, "Love At Home", and in her own quiet way was mouthing each word. Hermana Ortega said, "It was all I could do to not cry while we were there with this sweet sister in her humble home." We rarely ever actually go inside someone's home here. None of them except our house, have air conditioning and they mostly all have a shaded area where they pull out the lawn chairs for everyone to sit in the shade and visit. It really is true that wherever we are gathered together, God's spirit can be with us wherever that is on this great big earth. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the gospel teachings.
Comments
Post a Comment