Sunday March 3, 2024
Yesterday was grandpa Hicken's birthday, he is 91 and we got to call and talk with him and grandma Hicken yesterday afternoon. Christine sent us this picture afterwards. It is so great to have the love and support from home. We really do appreciate all our family and loved ones who pray for us, we really do know that it helps us in so many ways to know that we have their love, prayers and support even though we are so far away it makes this whole mission thing possible. I told him that next year we would come to their house for his birthday, it will be great to be back home and closer to family. Meanwhile here in Tela Honduras.....
The hermana's had a baptism this past week for an 18 year old young man, and there was a lot of branch member support, sometimes there is hardly anyone at the baptisms and other times there are a lot of the members who show up to support the new members. We really do have a lot of baptisms here in Honduras, around 75 per month for the whole mission, and here in the two branches we probably average 5 per month. They sometimes come back to church and sometimes you never see them again. It is hard, I think, for people to change a whole lifestyle and become a faithful member of the church of Jesus Christ. The lifestyle as a member is quite different from the average person here. There are lots of good faithful members but there is a lot of opposition especially if you are a younger person. There are so many groups of gang style behaviour with drinking and partying everywhere. It is a very difficult environment for someone to try and live a commandment keeping life and live around people who don't care too much for good Christian values. The people are religious and Christian here in their own way, but it isn't exactly the same as what is taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And it is not usually the young people who are practicing religion, but their mothers, so many of whom are single mothers. The dad's are nowhere to be found. It is really rare for there to be a "family" where there is a mother and a father with the children.
Last week the Morales family received results back from biopsies and medical tests the were done a few weeks ago in Tegucigalpa for hermano Morales. He was told that he has stage 5 prostate cancer and that it has spread to other areas of the body. I think I mentioned this earlier. So this past Wednesday he was sick, in pain, and his right foot and leg was swelling. So they decided that they would go back to the hospital or Dr office where he had the tests done and see what could be done to help him. The only thing they had done is told him that surgery would be scheduled in May. He was sick and they were all pretty scared that he was going to be dying soon. So on Wednesday afternoon several of the sisters from the Branch, friends of the family, especially close to Emelda Yanet gathered at their house and they asked Manuel Mendoza and his wife and Colleen and I to come over and give him a blessing before they left on Thursday morning to go back to see the Dr's and see what could be done. There were many tears shed during that afternoon visit in their home. It was a beautiful sweet spirit of love, concern, compassion, faith, hope, and union among those sweet saints. After the blessing, Hermano Morales said that he wanted to share something with all of us that were gathered in his home that day. Everyone was sad, and crying with worry for them. He stood up and bore such a sweet powerful testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how with faith, and the power of the priesthood he knew that he could be blessed to be able to overcome this and to be able to get well. He also said that he knew without a doubt that he could be called back to his heavenly home soon. And that through faith and the priesthood blessing, that either one of those two results would be what was supposed to happen now in their family. They have three children from the age of 16 to a 20 something year old son, who I had never met before. He being the only one in the family who was currently not attending church but who was currently living with them. Victor, (the dad), said that with all his heart he wanted to leave this life, when ever that time came, knowing that his family were all faithful in the church. He said, "I do not want to ever hear any of my children say that they were not blessed because their dad died, so they were no longer going to participate in the church." There were none of his children at home at the time, but I feel like he has probably told them that or something similar before. He really is a man of great faith. It was amazing because we were all supposedly there to give him help and comfort and there he was consoling all of us. It really was an inspirational experience and we all left there feeling so calm and peaceful, full of faith, hope and love for him and his family. The hermana Martha Mendoza said, that when they get back and he is feeling better we are all going to have a branch fiesta for them. We sent out a group message to all the members of the Tela branch inviting everyone to join in a fast for them and their family on this past Friday, which was when he was going to be meeting with his Dr's. Their plan was that they were going to Tegucigalpa on Thursday and then see the Dr's on Friday then who knows.
So then late Friday the messages started showing up on the branch text that they had witnessed a miracle and that they would be returning home on Saturday. Today being Fast and Testimony meeting, He was the second one up to share his testimony. He shared too much detail and I really don't understand everything that was said, but it was pretty much that what they saw in the previous exams and what they were seeing this week on Friday were like it was two different people. The results were not even close to the same. Yes he does still have prostate cancer but with treatments which he will start soon, he should be able to make a full recovery. Every testimony at church was about how priesthood blessings, fasting, and prayer are really so amazing and so powerful. It was a very spiritual testimony meeting. Another wonderful blessing today was that their oldest son who has been a bit wayword and inactive for some time was at church today with the family. It really was a touching meeting.
This next week on Saturday evening at 6:00 we are having a fiesta at the church for the Morales family. Just like Hermana Mendoza said we would do. I don't know what all it will be but they have 100% branch love and support for them. They really are a great family. They have had so many struggles throughout the years but they are so very strong in their commitment to the gospel. They are always out helping the missionary effort and they all have big callings in the church so they are all busy in all aspects of the branch. I don't have any pictures with the family but I really need to. I know we will always remember the Morales family but it is always great to have a picture to go along with the memories. It really has be a great week in the respect that we have witnessed wonderful miracles in the Morales family this week.
In our travels around, there are always horses, donkeys, cows, sheep and pigs around, but this week we saw this cow and Colleen thought it looked pretty with the black white and brown coloring, so here is a cow we saw this week.
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