Anywho, it's way hard sometimes being home from the mish...I just miss it so so much like everyday fo real. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about something or someone from Ecuador and from being a missionary. Yesterday for instance was a very special day for me...not only because it was mother's day...I love my mom, she is totally the greatest and I just love her so so much! I would not be who I am without her..well obviously! haha!! But there is so much of who I am that came from my mother! She is amazing!!
Mother's day of last year was a very special time for me, I was a missionary in Ecuador. Me and my companion called our families the day before mothers day, it was Saturday. While my compa was talking to her fam in the cabinas(the place we go to make calls) there was a guy who was also waiting to call his fam, he was from Perú, his name is Miller. So we started talking to him about families and about the gospel and we had a great convo with him. He agreed that we could visit him the next day...so we did and it was amazing and a couple months later he was baptized!!
But Mother's day last year is also very special for another reason... one of our investigators, María Barrera, was able to be baptized. It was a miracle for many reasons. First of all, let me back up...rewind to like 3 mths before...we had met María she was the friend of a member in the ward. Anywho the first time we taught her it was completely amazing, the spirit was seriously so so strong, María accepted to be baptized in the very first lesson!! María was seriously a woman of much faith, she knew from the very beginning that the Gospel is true! She had been preparing her whole life for the Gospel. She had heard the missionaries before, but she had denied them several times, her life had been hard. Anyways what changed? Well...María found out she had cancer, I think like colon cancer/stomach cancer. I hate cancer, it is such a horrible sickness. But having an illness as such really opened María's eyes...and heart. She allowed the spirit to finally touch her and she decided that she needed to follow what she had known was true for most of her life. Anyways to make a long story a lil less long, María couldn't be baptized for so long because she was so sick with the cancer, we planned her baptism several times only to have it be cancelled because María was in the hospital again or she didn't have the strength to get out of bed that day without passing out.
Finally, on mothers day of last year...actually it was this date to be exact, May 9, 2010, a miracle occured and despite her weakness and constant pain, María Barrera was able to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized! It was in the very early morning before church, we woke up at 5am to travel up the mountain to bring her to her baptism. Her husband thought she was crazy and said, "what are you doing? You can't get out of bed, you can't leave the house. You are too sick!" and I will never forget her response, she said, "No, this is my Salvation!" and she walked out of her house and was baptized! She is seriously a woman of so much faith and so much courage. She was baptized and she received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The day after she became really sick again and had to return to the hospital, for the next 3 weeks she was in and out of the hospital many times. When finally on May 30th 2010, 3 weeks exactly from the day she was baptized, she passed away in her home surrounded by family members, and friends from the church. I know that the choice that she made to be baptized has given her the salvation that Jesus Christ offers to each and everyone of us. That through Him we are able to live with our families and with our Father in Heaven for all of Eternity! I know that María Barrera is happy! She made the most important decision of her life and after she did so the Lord called her back home!! I am so grateful for the blessing that I had to be a missionary of Jesus Christ in Ecuador, to teach María Barrera about the plan that He has for her, and that her life does not end at death, but really just begins and will continue for all Eternity!! I know that I will see her again, this is not the end! Because Jesus Christ loves us each so much He has made this possible through His Atonement!! This is the truth!! I know it is!
I am so happy to know and live the plan God has created for me !! I know that He loves us, we are His children, we must not wait for the perfect time in our life to follow Him, but we must start today and continue each day to do what He would have us do!! When we do this, we are so so blessed and we are happy!! Miracles are real and they happen each day! We just need to open our eyes and our hearts and realize that the Lord is guiding us in all that we do! When we are faced with difficult times, may we respond as María, "This is my salvation!" and may we keep on enduring to the end! Every step we take forward is a step closer to Him!!
It is true!
I love you all!!
the baptism of María Barrera!
