We were happy to see Lessy (16) baptized this Saturday. She reminded me of my sister Rachel. She was all dressed in white and glowed. I was gratified to see her being welcomed and accepted by the Young Women in the ward. It is so important!
We are teaching this cute family, Zaida (the mom), Angelica Maria, Mauro, Percy, Jerry and Kenny. They are so humble and smart! They are going to be baptized the 10th of April. They have so many needs. The last time we visited them the little boy, Kenny, was sick. They thought that he had dengue fever. Fortunately, the mom made a special tea which helped Kenny to feel better. We are trying to help her find stable employment so she can support her family. Since we walk around and meet so many people every day, we sometimes come across job opportunities that we can pass along to our people. And, “our people” includes everyone.
Our investigator, Marcia, couldn’t come to church because she was looking for work in order to feed her kids. She does odd jobs, doing laundry, selling food, etc. When people pray and give thanks for their “daily bread” they aren’t kidding. So many people here are barely surviving from day to day. The good thing is that Marcia has a special talent for crocheting, and will soon start up her crocheting business. She is really good, too. I used to chastise my mom for buying stuff she didn’t need from people who sold cleaning products door-to-door, but now I find myself doing a similar sort of thing when I can. I probably don’t need 10 crocheted headbands, but if it helps Marcia…
These people have challenges, but they have so much strength that comes from their faith in Jesus Christ. They have nothing by material standards, but they have so much hope for a better world. As a missionary, I really feel like I need the Peruvians and they need the gospel.
I’m looking forward to Easter this week and to General Conference. The Peruvians here don’t celebrate with the eggs and Easter Bunny, but they focus on the Holy Week (many Catholic traditions for Ash Wednesday, Holy Friday, Easter Sunday, etc) and on Christ. I want to do the same, too.
God bless you!
Hna. Christensen
