This week was awesome! Or as they say here in Nicaragua "La ley!" Wow, where do I even begin? On Tuesday, we went to the mission home to meet our greenies. Mine, Hermana Castillo, is a tall black girl from the Dominican Republic! She's the first missionary I've met here in the mission who is from there. She's a convert of just 2 years and has a lot of enthusiasm for the work. I realize it's a huge responsability to train her, being so recent to have joined the church. She likes to play baseball, cook, and dance. Also, she can braid hair, which I'm excited about because none of my other comps could and I can't do it on my own hair. Her two other sisters are members, but her brother and her parents aren't. Her mom is going to church and receiving the missionaries though. She was baptized in the Catholic church, but hadn't gone in years when the missionaries found her and started teaching her. She doesn't speak any English, but wants to learn. She is very sweet and simple. There was a total of 29 new missionaries that came this transfer and the majority were sisters.
This week we went to visit Marta (Reyna's mom) so I could introduce her to my new comp. My plans were just to visit her every once and a while to share some scriptures to keep her faith growing while Juan's away so that when he gets back, she'll still have the desire to get baptized. When we arrived, I was happily surprised to see that Reyna had finally returned after like 3 weeks of being out of town. I greeted her with a big smile and introduced Hna. Castillo and then we said a prayer to begin the message. I started off just making small talk, asking them how they`d been and Marta mentioned that she talked with Juan and he found work. I assumed that she meant he found work in El Salvador, but then she said he came back yesterday, but then left again. Shocked, I asked, "He was here yesterday?" And she said yes, that his cousin had found him a job. Confused, I asked, "He found a job in El Salvador?2 and she replied yes, and I continued, "And he found a job here?". She replied yes again, so I asked, "Which one is he gonna choose?" and with a smile on her face, she replied, "Here". She said he's be coming back this next Saturday. I got so excited and said, "Perfect! That means you guys will still be able to prepare to get baptized on the 23rd!" And then it took a moment for everything to really sink in. My eyes welled with tears as I realized God had answered my prayers. All the prayers Hna. Garcia and I had offered for their family, even after Juan had already left, the prayers of faith that he might somehow be able to find work here and come back... were heard and answered be a loving and merciful Heavenly Father. For a minute, I sat trying to hold back my tears and compose myself, but when I realized the tears were well on their way, I said in a broken, emotion-filled voice, "Sorry... I just... I know that God answers prayers... my companion and I have been praying so much for your family," and then proceeded to bear my testimony, express my love for them, and promise blessings. As I was saying all of this, Marta's eyes also welled with tears and Reyna seemed to have a glisten in her eyes that may have been the beginnings of tears that never came to fruit (is that a phrase? "came to fruit"... I'm forgetting English). We invited Reyna to prepare to be baptized the same day as her Mom and Juan. She accepted. Also, Marta said her son Mario, who we've never taught, was reading a little in their Book of Mormon and liked it. Maybe we'll be able to baptize their entire family! Marta has 3 kids and one of them is married. Also, we just found out Reyna has a boyfriend so maybe they'll decide to get married and we can baptize that family! Ah, that would be awesome. Anyway, I can't even express how happy I felt. I was telling people the good news all day. I am so grateful God answered my prayers and renewed my hopes to see this family get baptized. Definitely a miracle.
Also, we had a new family at church on Sunday named Alfredo y Mirna! Then that night, we had a lesson with them and my comp put a baptismal date with them which they accepted! Also, when we asked them if they were gonna go to church again next week, I was expecting them to say, "We'll see, I don't know if I have to work" or "If there's nothing else to do" like the majority of the people here in Nicaragua say, but Mirna said with a smile on her face, "Claro que sí!" which means "Of course!" Ah, SO AWESOME! They awesome know a bunch of members already so they`ll have some great fellowshipping. I`m so excited for this family. I'm so excited to see where things go this month. Keep these families in your prayers!
Mom, You're right, I'm staying in the area because there's something more to do here! It rained a lot this week. We even got a bit of hail one day. My comp had never even seen hail before. Haha crazy, huh?
Yohana and Marcos are moving so we have to drop them. And they still haven't found out their new address so we can't pass them to the missionaries there yet. Hopefully they'll get it to us before they move for good.
Anyway, this week was great. God always answers our prayers. If we are patient and don't lose faith, we will see miracles. Love you all! Thanks for all your support!
Hermana Hawkins
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