Tender Mercies

January 31, 205

We met Patricia the first week we were in Kansas City. A few days before we met, the bishop had invited us to attend their ward council and meet the ward leaders. Before the meeting, the bishop asked all the leaders to come prepared with names that they had pondered and prayed about and felt impressed that we should begin visiting. The high priest group leader gave us Patricia’s name and told us she possibly would like to have a home teacher. Back in September, he along with about 20 other ward members and missionaries had gone out to visit members whose names were on the records but had never come to church. Patricia was one of them. Apparently, he had made contact with Patricia at the door and felt that she could use a visit. Other than that, he did not have any information about her. Even the bishop said that he did not know who she was.

After calling the phone number listed in the ward directory a number of times with no luck, we decided to just drop by. The older parts of Kansas City seldom have street lights and so it can be very hard to know if you are at the right address after the sun goes down. It was so dark when we pulled up near Patricia’s house, that we were not sure which house was hers. I told Robyn to wait in the car and I would try and see if I could figure out the numbers. This also happened to be our first trip into the inner city after dark and I was a little nervous about who we might encounter.

Just as I was about to give up and call it a night, a car pulled up in front of a house close by. As the man got out and went up to his door, I called out to him. When he turned to see who was calling, I noticed that he reached into his waist band and had his hand on some kind of a weapon. He was probably just as scared as I was about some stranger yelling at him in the dark and was a little jumpy. Fortunately, when I said we were looking for Patricia, he calmed down and replied that she was his mother and we could come in.

We found out that her son, Oscar, works at the Leavenworth state prison, thus the reason he was armed.  I didn’t want Robyn to be worried and so I neglected to tell her until the next day that I had almost been shot.

As soon as we met Patricia, we recognized someone who had been away from the church for years, but was now sincerely yearning to come back and needed to feel the Savior's love and atonement. She just was not sure how to do it. Over the next weeks and months, we got to know her better, and little by little Patricia shared her tragic story with us that broke our hearts. But we realized that through the tender mercies of the Lord, her life could be made whole again.

Patricia joined the church and was baptized in Mexico. She came to the States when she was a teenager where she met her future husband, Daniel. She told us that when they met, he spoke no Spanish and she spoke no English, but they soon learned to communicate.  Daniel joined the church and they were sealed in the Saint Louis temple about 15 years ago. They were very active in their ward and attended the temple as often as they could even if it was almost a four hour drive to get there. Shortly after they were married, they adopted 4 little children (3 girls, 1 boy) who were sealed to them in the temple. Now with Oscar, they had 5 youngsters. The kids brought them a great deal of joy and they even talked about serving a mission when they retired. Things were going well, or so she thought.

About 7 years ago, out of the blue, Patricia’s husband demanded a divorcee. On top of that, he requested and was granted total custody of the 4 younger children. The kids had been Patricia's whole life and now they were taken from her. It appears that this was a classic case of very poor legal representation for an immigrant who spoke little English and had few resources. On top of that, Daniel was so vindictive that he burned all her church things, even her temple clothing, and disappeared with the children. She has not seen her little ones since. She was so depressed and heartbroken that she contemplated ending her own life. She ended up moving in with Oscar who by then had married and had a family. All of this was so traumatic for her that she felt abandoned and all alone and stopped going to church.

As we visited with her that first time, we inquired if she would like to go to church with us. When she replied that she felt it was time, we offered to pick her up the following Sunday. As we walked into church with her, you could tell she felt she was finally home. We continued to visit with her and encourage to get back to the temple. Over the next couple of months, she met with the bishop and member of the stake presidency and was able to receive a temple recommend. This past Thursday, Robyn and I picked Patricia up and drove with her to the Kansas City temple to attend her first session in over 7 years.

Robyn and I were already in the Celestial room when Patricia came through the veil. She needed about 5 minutes and a half a box of Kleenex to compose herself, being so overcome with emotion and joy. After about 10 minutes I asked her if she was ready to go to which she replied, “No, I would just like to sit here for a while longer.” We spent another 10 minutes or so not talking but just trying to absorb the Spirit. The high priest group leader was also at the temple working the morning shift and greeted her. He had been the one who dropped by for a visit in September and felt prompted to give us her name. It was a very sweet day all around. We hope to have many more days like this. We bear testimony that Alma's words regarding the Savior are true: "...and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, they he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people..." 

Senior Prom

Who would have thought that I would finally be able to go to a prom with my missionary companion. I guess this is one of the fringe benefits of serving a full time mission. 

The elders and sisters in our zone come weekly to the Rose Estates senior citizen home to sing hymns and visit with the guests who live here. The director decided to have a 'prom' for all the elderly guests, complete with a band and a horse drawn carriage to take the guests around the block. Although, I'm not sure how they were going to get the wheel chairs into the carriage. The director asked the elders and sisters if they would help decorate. We decided that this would be too much fun to pass up so we decided to help. Robyn jumped right in and organized and directed the decorating of the ball room. It was a good thing we came, because most 18 year old single guys have no clue on what looks good and what to do in this situation. It only took a little over two hours to transform a drab meeting room into an elegant ball room that would be the envy of any high priced hotel. 

I do have to admit that we did not actually attend the prom that night, although I am sure we would have fit right in with the rest of the guests. :)

My date for the prom.
Please don't tell our mission president.


MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE IN KANSAS CITY

My favorite attraction at Disneyland as a kid was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. The climax of the ride is when your car ends up on the train tracks heading into a tunnel and come face to face with a big locomotive headed right towards you.  Last week I wasn't paying attention to our GPS and exited the freeway onto a private road meant only for Union Pacific railroad workers. It was a one way road and suddenly we found ourselves on tracks headed into a railroad tunnel that looked eerily like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  Fortunately for us, I think the last train that used the tunnel must have retired years ago. It was such a rush to play chicken with a speeding locomotive that we went back the next day and took pictures. 

YIKES

Uh oh

Made it