Dear Family-
We had a wonderful week with our investigators and I'm grateful for all your prayers and support. Juan is preparing to be baptized this next Sunday and he is very excited! It's been a miracle to see how Heavenly Father has been preparing him for some time to accept the gospel. The same with another family we have recently started teaching- no law of chastity or word or wisdom problems! Maybe the first time in my mission that an investigator hasn't had one or the other!!! We were also able to get back in with several investigators that we haven't seen in awhile- Hna Delia, Karina and Eduardo, etc. It was exciting to be able to teach them again and see that they are ready to learn more and are actually seeking after it. Laura is doing really well- she told us she knows everything we taught is true and wants to be baptized. They want to be married and are making plans to do so. Please keep them in your prayers so they can take that step.
In the ward, probably about 90% are converts and their conversion stories are both inspiring and humbling. I just wanted to share a few with you. Hno Alvarado is our ward mission leader now and has been a bishop, but as a youth he argued with the missionaries. The missionaries began visiting his family in Mexico when he was a teenager and he fought and argued the whole time. His whole family was baptized except him. Almost ten years later, married now in California with several children, two elders knock on his door. He opened the door and when he saw them he started to cry. Actually, the way he describes it was more like a waterfall of tears. In that moment he felt the Spirit tell him strongly that everything he had been taught before was true. The elders were just staring at him while he cried until he finally composed himself and invited them in. He told them, " I already know the lessons by heart and I want to be baptized. The only thing I ask is that you teach my wife the lessons. But whether she is baptized or not, that's between her and God. As for me, I want to be baptized as soon as possible." Can you imagine that?! As a missionary, I'm sure those elders were speechless for several minutes. Both were baptized, later on their three daughters, and later their four adopted children. They have 12 grandchildren, all active in the gospel. In a few months, their youngest son will leave on his mission. A legacy of discipleship.
Another wonderful couple from Argentina, the DiFlavia's. Nearly fifty years ago in Buenos Aires, two missionaries were knocking an apartment in the city. The elders knocked and Hna DiFlavia started to listen to them. She was catholic and her husband was atheist and didn't want anything to do with any religion. She kept having the elders visit when her husband was at work and soon wanted to be baptized. She prayed to know how to soften her husband's heart. He loved to read and always picked up any newspaper or magazine to read when he got home. So she started leaving the gospel pamphlets out of the table. Soon, he called her into the room. He had the Restoration booklet in his hand and tears in his eyes. He asked where she got it and she told him it was from the Mormon missionaries. He asked her to call them and see if they could come right away. His heart was so touched by the story of Joseph Smith that he accepted the gospel and they were both baptized. Not only do they have generation in the church, but they have served three temple missions- in Argentina, Chile, and here in Houston! They are such a wonderful couple and walking into their home you are just enveloped in love and the Spirit.
And there are so many more stories! I'll try to write more of them down so I can share them with you. In my studies, I loved this quote by Elder Scott. "Not long ago you came to mortality with all of those magnificent capacities and endless possibilities. Yet there is real danger in the environment surrounding you. Your great potential and ability could be limited or destroyed if you yield to the devil-inspired contamination around you. However, Satan is no match for the Savior. Satan’s fate is decided. He knows he has lost, but he wants to take as many with him as he can. He will try to ruin your goodness and abilities by exploiting your weaknesses. Stay on the Lord’s side, and you will win every time." - Richard G Scott
I love you all!
-Hermana Koerner
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