Sometimes you have to invite yourself in

We got called to do a temple recommend interview in Linares today after church.  After the interview we decided to visit Rodrigo and Estanka Meza, a beautiful young couple who joined the church just a few months ago.  Sally and Hermana Lepe had visited them once on one of our home visits a few weeks back.  I had met them once when they were investigators and had seen him one other time in Linares 2.  When we called Rodrigo and asked if we could come visit he was a little hesitant.  He told us that they weren't home but they were at Estanka's parents house in Linares.  Not to be deterred we asked if we could come and visit them at her parents house.  After some talking in the background he said OK and gave us the address.

Our google map worked like a charm this time and we arrived at their house in 5 minutes.  Estanka's parents were very kind and invited us to sit down with them at the kitchen table.  They served us some soft drinks and "empanadas de queso" - cheese empanadas.  After we got to know them better the conversation turned to the gospel.  We started talking about families - eternal families.  The parents listened and were in agreement that families should be eternal.  We explained that they could be through the ordinances of the temple.  Rodrigo happily shared that he had blessed the sacrament today in church.  Estanka teased him a little saying that he broke the bread into pieces so large she thought he was serving breakfast.  She said that she had been asked to speak in church next Sunday and she was pretty excited about that.  I asked the parents if they were going to go and hear their daughter speak.  They said that they thought that would be a good idea.  We then talked about Rodrigo and Estanka's conversion to the Church.  The parents were concerned about missionaries coming and going and their kids being attached to them.  We explained that we try to help new converts get attached to God, not to the missionaries.  We talked about the Holy Spirit and how it testifies of truth.  Rodrigo told about how he felt as an investigator when he heard Sally bear her testimony just a couple of weeks after we arrived.  He said Sally wasn't the only one crying, he was crying right along with her.  He explained that when he first saw us sitting on the stand he thought that we were visiting authorities and he knew we were from outside the country.  He was surprised when we came to them   after the meeting to meet them and greet them.  He then realized that we were just ordinary people trying to help out.  Sally shared a scripture she has memorized, "Porque el Espíritu mismo da testimonio a nuestro espíritu de que somos hijos de dios."  (Romans 8:16).  I was so impressed!  And so were they!

Guillermo, the dad, talked about him being an altar boy in the Catholic Church.  He said he used to drink the wine that the priest didn't use during communion until one of the priests caught him and pulled him by the ear and scolded him.  He also said that he loved working with the youth and had done a lot of it in the Catholic Church.  We explained to him that the Church had a great need for him.  We told him that he would make a good member of the church.  He said that they would have to look into the church.  They were agreeable to having the missionaries teach them.  They invited us to come back and have Sunday dinner with them on another Sunday.  We were not able to schedule a time because of previous commitments we have.

Rodrigo said he was going to baptize his 16 year old nephew in 2 weeks, the day John and Jessica get here for a week's visit.  I told the parents that I was looking forward to attending their baptism!  We hope that they will be baptized.  We are just grateful that we could be part of that process.  It is fun doing real missionary work.