HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!! No I’m not just crazy, another Costa Rican “Dia de Madre” come and gone. These Looney Tunes celebrate their mothers August 15th instead of May. (Secretly I hoped they’d let us call our moms too,,, but no such luck.) I am so grateful this week for all the moms of the world!! My mom, my sisters, my grandmas, great-grandmas, aunts, cousins, etc... Especially this week, there were two things that made me reaffirmed my honor for these mothers in Zion. I’m so proud of my one and only sister in law Georgia. Congratulations Georgia and Bubby!!! Little Annie-Rose is beautiful. Well done :) also at this time of mothers, I just want to take a few minutes to remember my sweet Great Grandma Baines. As I sat here looking at the photos of baby Anastasia I came across one my mom sent me of my bisabuelita (great grandma) with my grandpa holding her, I started to cry remembering all the times we went to see her and looking into her sweet face. Sometimes (because of our giant family and not living there in Omaha, and age) she sometimes wouldn’t know which sister I was, J but she loved me because I was her family. She has been an example of faith, love, strength and perseverance to the end for as long as I can remember. I love you great gramma! You are loved and missed all around the world.
I am just so grateful that the Lord blessed us with these wonderful ladies. Who else in the world cares, worries, thinks, sacrifices, teaches, prayers and loves us more then these earthly angels? Mothers are truly Gods hands to touch the hearts of each of his children.
This week was the happiest I may have ever had. On Sunday I was sitting in Principios del Evangelio with the recent converts and investigators when out the window of the door I saw some very familiar and beloved faces.... JOVANA AND JONI!!!! They brought their whole family to church to visit me!! I wish I had the words to describe the happiness I felt at seeing them. It was like seeing family. It WAS seeing family. She just hugged me for 5 minutes and told me how much they had missed me. The kids jumped on me and clung on me like they hadn’t seen me in 6 months or something... we sat together through the next 2 meetings and Jovana and Kenia never once let me go. After church we took about a gazillion photos and chatted about everything that happened here, while I was home, with hmna Montoya, etc. My family is happily working towards being sealed at the end of November!!! Joni looked so great! We talked a little and he told me that he’s completely overcome his addictions. The only thing he drinks is coffee made from corn (which is okay if you didn’t know). He even quit his job and got a new job so he wouldn’t have to work on Sundays so he could go to church with his family. It was incredible to see the light in his eyes! I saw it before I left, but again he is a changed man. That how conversion goes, little by little, we gain more light and understanding. I love seeing the light spark in people’s eyes!!
This week we found a new family. My companion and I fell in love with them the first time we saw them.. One night we were walking by when we saw this gigantic family playing out on the sidewalk, we wanted to talk to them but were with a member on the way to an appointment so we wrote down their address so we could come back. After our appointment my companion told me, "Hermana we have to go back and meet them. When we were walking I turned around and I saw them in White!!!" so we went back the next day to meet them and set an appointment. When we showed up to our appointment on Saturday we got to meet them all. A family of 5! The dad had them all come out and sit on the couch and they were so reverent and actually paid attention. We read Alma 7:11-14 and explained a little about the atonement, the book of Mormon and the restoration. We gave them a pamphlet and asked if they would read it together as a family. They said they’d read it only if we came back again to explain it. Claro que yes! As we were leaving the littlest boy (9 yrs old) asked if when we came back we could bring him a copy of the book of Mormon cause he was curious. We surprised him and gave him one right then! We have a lot of work to do with them, lots of things to teach, etc. etc. but never have I felt so strongly about helping a family before. And plus, my companion saw them in white!
Another miracle we had this week was Ricardo. He’s a friend of a member and he likes to come listen to us. He also likes to argue with us...... he’s very very very smart and knows the bible like the back of his hand. This week we taught him the restoration. It was kind of a process cause he interrupted us a lot and asked lots of weird unrelated questions, but at the end my companion just bore her testimony really simply and he sat there quiet for the first time the whole lesson. We were able to explain that the evidence we have of everything (joseph smith, the true organization of the church, the priesthood) is the book of Mormon. Before he wouldn’t even touch it because he thought it was blasphemy, but then we told him all he had to do to know the truth was read it and pray. He sat quiet for a few minutes and then snatched it off the table and said fine fine ill read it then. Only 530 pages? Give me a week..... Hahaha:) uuusshh!
Anyways, those were my wonderful experiences from this week. I love being a missionary. I love preaching the gospel. I love the church and the book of Mormon and the prophet and the simplicity of it all! I am so blessed. I love you guys and pray for you always:) hope all is well in la casa!
All my hope love and prayers,
Hermana Kugath
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