This week has been incredibly amazing. And it all starts with Belen and her nine year old daughter Ashley. We´ve been working with them since I first arrived in Tungasuca (about two months now). They have been going through some really hard trials. Belen´s husband cheated on her and left her, and as it would to anyone, it turned her world upside down. In Peru, it´s even worse, because there´s no such thing as government help or child support. So she was left without family and income and well, of course it´s been really hard. Well, she´s been preparing to be baptized with her daughter Ashley for about a month now, but before being baptized you have to go to church at least three sundays (amongst other things) and for some reason (Satan, lol) every single sunday SOMETHING happened and she wouldn´t come and we had to keep postponing her baptism. Well, finally, two sundays ago, she came to church, even after going to the hospital at 4 in the morning because her daughter had an asthma attack. They went straight from the hospital to the church and finally were going to be baptized this saturday!!! We were SOOO excited! Well . .. the next day, she told us that she wouldn´t be able to because all of the money she had for that week she had to spend at the hospital, and if she didn´t go find work this weekend, she wouldn´t be able to feed her daughter the next week . . . I´ll tell you what . . . I´ve never been in more conflicting situations in my whole life than on the mission. In the teaching appointment, I had no idea what to do or what to say, and my Book of Mormon fell open to this scripture:
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
and all these things shall be added unto you.
I literally had to ask this woman to trust in God, and instead of going to work, to be baptized. I honestly don´t know what I would have done if I was in Belen´s situation, but I know that I wasn´t teaching alone that night. The Holy Ghost bore witness of my words, and as a representative of Jesus Christ, I promised her that if she was baptized this saturday, she would never go a day without food on the table. . . this saturday, she was baptized, with her daughter, and every single day they have received miracles, and God has fulfilled His promise to her. She was brave, put her trust in God, and not only sacrificed the things of the world for Him, but sacrificed her own physical needs, relying completely on God to feed them.
Living the gospel of Jesus Christ is completely priceless. Sometimes it´s really hard to ask people to make sacrifices that I don´t know if I would have been able to make before serving the mission, but I´m so grateful for the opportunities that God gives me to learn from these people and their example to me and their courage. It´s such an amazing experience serving the Pioneers of South America. I´m just so grateful for this gospel, and to be here and serve my brothers and sisters. There really is nothing else like it.
I love you all so much and I know that God loves you and knows each and everyone of you. It doesn´t matter what race or religion you are, you are a child of God, and He has a plan for you. I hope, if you´re wondering if living the gospel really is worth some of the sacrifices . . . make the sacrifices, pray with FAITH, and LOOK for the blessings, because I know they´re there, and I testify with all of my heart that it is all worth it.
Thank you for all your love and support!! I can´t wait to hear from you next week! In case you need my address, here it is :)
Love,
Hna. Hulse
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