March 24, 2009

Hello family,
Well, I am still among the living. It did seem unlikely some days last week—and sometimes not even desirable. But I pulled through—thanks to prayers from many of you. I still have some nausea, lots of fatigue and my glasses are waaaay off for my vision now, so I am pretty sure I had a concussion. Oh well, at least I am getting better. I am going to teach tonight, so we will see how that goes. Spencer has gone to Zone Conference in Zacapa today so I am here resting and working on lesson plans—and writing to the people I love.
It was such fun to look at the pictures and read the commentary on the jeaninereunion.blogspot.com about the reunion Janae and Stephen hosted in San Antonio. Wish I could have been in two places at once. On Sunday morning I was feeling sort of melancholy because I knew it was the day Sarah would be baptized and I wouldn’t be there to witness it.
I wanted to get over the “funks” some way. When we arrived at church the five youngest Ramirez children came running to greet us. We have been fellowshipping this family for several months. Our FHE have focused on the first principles and ordinances since they had two unbaptized children over the age of eight. They love us and if they spot us a block away they come running to give us both hugs. After all the abrazos were finished I discovered that neither their mom or 12 year old sister could come, so the nine year old was in charge and they had walked to church on their own. The kids are ages 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. They sat with/on/around us. As soon as we were seated the two girls each independently said, “Hermana, quiero bautizarse” [“I want to be baptized”]. It was truly a “tender mercy” from the Lord for the girls to make that decision and tell me on that day. I was sooooooo happy for them.
The baptism was held Friday night. I ventured out for it only because I love the family so much and because they wanted Spencer and me to talk. Three of their cousins—whose parents aren’t members also attended. It was great, when it was time for the baptism, there were six little faces pressed right against the glass so that they wouldn’t miss anything. Spencer baptized both of them. I didn’t make it to church on Sunday, but Spencer confirmed one of the girls. The bishop drove us to the church for the baptism and his counselor drove us home. Just riding in a car made me dizzy, so I was glad I didn’t have to take the bus—which would have been much worse.
Spencer went to Esquipulas on Saturday for the Capacitación (leadership training) for the Priesthood brethren. Several of the men couldn’t come because of work conflicts, but it was well received by the ones who were able to be there. The last bus out of Esquipulas leaves at 6 PM and Spencer knew it was iffy on catching it. He took a suitcase just in case he had to stay overnight. The minute the meeting was over, he took off at a trot and got to the highway just in time to flag down the last bus. The suitcase went on top and he had to stand in a completely packed bus. Seats were crowded and the men standing were shoulder to shoulder. It was that way for about 30 minutes until some started getting off. His efforts were heroic—and much appreciated.
The Gordillos came and stayed with me while he was gone. They brought homemade chicken soup, which actually tasted good. I had a terrible migraine, so I mostly just slept on the couch with a cold cloth on my head. I still had a headache on Sunday, but by Sunday night it had resolved. So I think I really am on the mend.
Two of our other families are making progress. In both cases the dads are now attending regularly. Nelson Lemus is getting a lot of flak from his wife—whose brother is a preacher in another church and he was warned her about coming back to the Mormon Church. Jairo Perez is also coming alone—and even gave a talk in church on Sunday. His wife is taking a seamstress course on Sunday mornings, but wants to start attending as soon as that is completed. They also have an unbaptized 9 year old.
This is an interesting culture. There are many, many examples of families where the husband is stronger in the church than the wife. I certainly had not witnessed that in the Anglo culture. Generally we think of women as having the more spiritual nature, but here the men seem to “catch the vision” of the Lord’s work more than the women do. It is amazing. But there are some prime examples on the opposite end as well—such as the Ramirez family—whose dad didn’t even come to the baptism. The same thing happened in January when we helped set up the baptism for the eight year old in the Garcia family. Her dad didn’t attend her baptism either. It is sad. What an important day in the life of a child and for a dad to just blow it off or let family conflict interfere is so unfortunate.
We are getting really close to our visit from Nathan and Christena. I am so grateful that families can visit senior missionaries—and I’m glad Christena’s Spring Break is during Semana Santa (Holy Week) when everything is closed—including school and we have no classes. The mission president was very supportive of us going with them to all the locations within the mission boundaries. This is a very big bright spot to look forward to.
Once again, thanks for your prayers. They made a difference. We love you all.
Mom/Jeanine