Marriage and the Gathering

We had another eventful week. Marriage and family seem to be a big part of what we do as missionaries here. There is a tradition here of couples being together and not getting married. They refer to each other as spouses but it is usually not legal. It is one of the biggest barriers for adults joining the church.

This week we had 3 very different experiences with helping to get people married. Our first experience was with a couple that has been together for at least 7 or 8 years. They have 2 kids together and the woman has a son who served a mission. They both claim to have testimonies. The missionaries have been trying to help them get married since we moved to Azua (Jan). We offered to pay the fee because we know that they have financial troubles (very common). When we met with them to tell them we would pay the fee, they (mostly him) informed of a different plan. He is planning on marrying his "cousin" who lives in the US. When (if) he gets residency he will divorce her and bring his "wife" to the US. He thinks it's a great plan. We could tell by her expression that she is not so convinced. The missionaries were a little shocked, we didn't understand totally what he was saying (the Elders explained it to us later). They did explain to him how sacred marriage is and invited him to pray about the plan to see what God would have him do.

The second experience, We met with a young woman who wants to get baptized this week. He is a member of the church and is about 23 and she is 19. They have a baby together who is about 4 months. They wanted to have an empanada sale to raise money but at 30 cents each, that's a lot of empanadas to raise $80. We were going to buy the ingredients but realized it was less expensive to just help them out with the cost of the license. When we talked to her she said her boyfriend is not sure if he wants to get married. He doesn't think he can provide for her. (he should have thought about that about 13 months ago). This one is still up in the air. She had had all the discussions. She attends church. She needs to commit to living the law of chastity one way or another. (get married or break up)

Our third experience is with a couple that has been together for 30+ years. They have 3 kids and 5 grandkids. They both want to get baptized and cannot come up with the money to get married. We offered to pay. They accepted the offer. We spent two different days trying to get their marriage license. They were both born in towns near Padre las Casas. When he came to the office to get the license they could not find him in the system. to make a long story short we ended up driving to Azua (he lives about 20 minutes away) when they couldn't find him in the system we ended up driving to Padre Las Casas (another hour away) but they didn't have the records either. When we got home he searched and found the document he needed to prove he is who he says. The next day we got his license and a date for his marriage. August 14. 3 stories, 3 different outcomes.

Since the missionaries were taken out of Padre Las Casas and we know a young family that has been progressing well there we decided to take the Zone Leaders to meet them and to see if they would like to progress toward a baptismal date. We went up on Thursday night and came back Friday morning. We taught him both that night and the next morning. She was unable to come both times because of work. He accepted a baptismal date and we are going to return each week.

Last week I mentioned a man that came to church who is Haitian. He is a preacher to a small congregation out in the countryside. He gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon. We met with him and some of his congregation this week. Some speak Spanish but most only speak Creole. It just so "happens" that Elder Brutis was just sent here and his parents are from Haiti. He can understand Haitian and can speak some. Enough to teach a simple form of the gospel. We took 4 missionaries out to the small pueblo and were invited to wait in the church while he gathered his flock. There were 15 - 20 adults and about 10 kids. We taught the lesson on the restoration and showed the video of the first vision. It was amazing. It felt like this group has been prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel. Their questions were sincere and the spirit was very strong. It is evident that we will need more Creole resources but Elder Brutis (the only Creole-speaking Elder in the mission) was sent here and his first-day at Church was the day that this man decided "out of the blue" to come to church makes me believe that this might become something big. As he taught the words just seemed to come out of his mouth. We think he was blessed to speak way better than his ability.

It's humbling to see people that are so sincere in their desire to worship and serve God. It felt like as that lesson was going on nothing else in the world mattered more than what was happening right there and then. The true Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. The Lord is using it to bless the sincere in heart.

Have a great week.

Your friends

Hermana Y Elder Borup

I love this picture. Ramon is an investigator who lives in Padre Las Casas. I love how he put The Family Proclamation with a picture of baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.