"...O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!" (1 Nephi 2:9)
How do you deal with life when things don't go the way you'd hoped? Each of us has our way of coping. There are healthy ways and there are unhealthy ways. I guess for me, the way I cope depends on the situation. The only thing to do is to decide how we will react in the face of disappointment. We can make the situation worse. Or we can let our challenges make us stronger. When it comes to people, more often than not, I believe that it's best to let grudges go.
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THE DECISION
Elder Gomez was assigned to be Elder Urias’ companion after Elder Lopez was transferred. Let me say first that I love Elder Gomez to death. He was one of my favorite missionaries. He was from Tampico, Mexico but his English was as good as a native speaker although he never gave himself sufficient credit no matter how much I complimented it. He was light-spirited and fun. He never got upset or angry. He was sensitive and easy to talk to. Maybe that is why G.M. clicked with him at church. (See "See Others As They May Become")
They became fast friends. In the beginning, I questioned whether their relationship was professional or appropriate but I let it go. He got G.M. to talk, even if it wasn’t so much with Elder Chavarria and me, and that seemed to be a step in a good direction. For whatever reason, whenever it was my companion and I meeting with her, she was never one for conversation.
On Sunday, May 10, 2015, G.M. told us that she'd let us know that day if she would be baptized but we didn't have time to verify so we had to wait until Tuesday. Her mom told us that it was a secret. I interpreted that to be a good thing and that she was probably going to be baptized but wanted it to be a surprise.
That Tuesday night on May 12, 2015, Elder Gomez got home and said he had something to tell me and asked that I not be mad at him. I was scared at what he might be getting at like he'd committed some serious sin or something but I thought it best to not assume the worst and I assured him that I wouldn’t. A part of me was concerned about what it was that he thought that specifically, I might be mad about, not my companion, but me; after all, if you know me, it's not easy to anger me. That's when he told me that G.M agreed to be baptized if he would baptize her. I was upset. I honestly felt like she was getting baptized for Elder Gomez and not for conversion's sake (See "Sí, Dios Quiere"). I held that grudge for a good while, not in anger but in disappointment and jealousy. But I ultimately let it go. Elder Gomez was my friend and a good missionary. He was both humble and brave revealing what had happened and I couldn't punish him for what was the unintended result of his naturally kind heart. It was because I was able to let it go that we continued to enjoy our close friendship throughout the rest of our missions and thereafter. As I said previously, it doesn’t matter so much who baptizes so long as the person gets baptized and means it. (See "Who Baptizes?")
G.M. meant it. My concerns that she was getting baptized for other reasons were washed away. And she had a mother whom we knew well who would help nurture her faith as well (See "See Others As They May Become"). She was baptized by Elder Gomez on Saturday, May 23, 2015. It was simply a joy to see her dressed in white after so much time trying to get her to make that step (See "Fear Not"). I celebrated the happy day with a dash through the Church sprinklers. She and M.M. continued going to church every week.
THE STORM
It stormed heavily in the middle of the night after the baptism, and you know how Matamoros is when it comes to rain. We could hear the booming thunder wake us in the middle of the night. The next morning, on Sunday, May 24, 2015, we woke up to roughly a foot and a half of water in every direction. Some places were deep underwater. Others were less severe. But it was enough water to make it impossible for anything other than large heavy vehicles to drive in it and when they did they could only glide at a few miles per hour like a duck swimming on a lake. Ideally, nobody would dare attempt getting around in floodwater and especially not on foot. It only takes about six inches of slow water to move a small car and about a foot to carry it away. Water is heavy and shouldn’t be underestimated. Water carves canyons. Heavy freighters move and float upon it. Don't underestimate its might to move mountains.
Just a few days earlier on Thursday, May 21, 2015, it had rained so hard, that Tito, the Bishop's son, had to drive to pick us up for lunch. There was lightning like every 10 seconds and we got the instructions from our superiors to stay inside if there was lightning so we only had about 1 lesson that day and had G.M.'s baptismal interview.
M.M's street was about a three-foot elevation drop from the main road but her house compensated partially by being elevated about two and a half feet off of it. Moments like that made me wish that I too could walk on water (See "Fear Not"). The small patch of a grassy park in front of M.M's house looked like a shimmering lake, glistening and rippling from thousands of drops of cloud water striking its wrinkled agitated surface but murky and opaque in composition. The slide looked like those attached to pools and water parks. There was no telling what you were walking on or through when wading in the gray rainwater. One wrong step and you could drop into a pothole or just as easily trip over a rock or cinderblock. The water inched up their stairs and seeped into their house slightly. It was bad but not uncommon.
The chapel was only down the street but we managed to make it to church with them the Sunday after her baptism only because a considerate Church member with a van volunteered to carry us across the water. When there is a will, there is a way. Church attendance was a third of what it usually was that day with only about 30 people in attendance out of above an 80 average in attendance but G.M. and M.M. came for the confirmation. Elder Chavarría confirmed her a member of the Church on Sunday, May 24, 2015. As the Grinch might say, “They came just the same!”
THE STEADFAST
We continued frequent visits with them after they were baptized, as is to be expected. They were a favorite family of us missionaries. They fed us. They brought us out of the bitter cold or the blazing sun. M.M. knew how to knit scarves and taught herself to knit ties for us. At a later time, she learned to knit plushies. She was a pillar when all seemed to be so slow. She was a true friend and personification of a Christ-like believer. I am eternally grateful that I was placed in their lives and them in mine.
The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has the power to change lives. It was because of the Book of Mormon that M.M. and her daughter decided to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It brings increased happiness to those who read it. Conversion is real. It is more than knowledge. It is a commitment to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. “I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away” (Alma 23:6). They were not converted unto the missionaries to grow for a season but then shrivel in the sun. They were converted unto Him who matters and unto He whose Church it is. That might as well be the only kind of conversion. (See "Sí, Dios Quiere")
Ponder Question: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has the power to bring peace. Do you have a favorite scripture that has personal meaning to you?
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