Hello
once again to all of my beloved friends and family! How are you all doing? I
certainly hope that you are full of joy and the love of Christ in this moment.
I certainly have been made humble and full of joy this week.
As you can see by the
pictures, we had a baptism this last Saturday! She is Lesbia, a lady who we had
found on one of our first days here in the island. At first she was pretty
closed off; she didn’t like the Book of Mormon, she had doubts about Joseph Smith...but
with a little teaching and a lot of help from her boyfriend, Osmar (the man in
white...he baptized her!) we got her ready! She helped me out so much in my
time here, we always went to her house and taught...and the Spirit was always
so powerful. It confirmed my testimony of each and every principle of which we
spoke. I grew to love that family, and will be waiting anxiously to hear of
when they get sealed in 1 year in the new Honduras, Tegucigalpa Temple! Wooo!
It was a very spiritual event, and she brought her 3 daughters with her; who at
first didn’t want anything to do with the church. But now, they are asking a
lot of questions and showing a lot of interest.
As for the rest of the
week, well, we continue to teach Hna. Olga. She is the girlfriend of a member
and he wants us to keep teaching her and help her to get baptized. Well, she
has a problem that she is at school on Sunday. She is receiving all of the
lessons very well, but ends up not being able to come with us when Sunday comes
around. But, she has said that she will talk with her teacher to see if she can
get an hour off so that she can come to Sacrament Meeting with us.
We have also been
teaching Gladys, the friend of a family of members who is staying in their
house. She at first started off very closed off, because she was a nun for
several years -- I don’t know where, I just know that she was involved in that.
But, when we went the last time we asked her a few questions at the end of the
lesson. She surprised me with her answer that she has prayed and knows the
Book of Mormon is true, that this is the true church, and that
Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. She has her testimony,
but she still has a little bit of a problem with coffee and with getting up the
courage to go to church even if the rest of the family doesn’t go.
We also found an old
family of members thanks to Adolfo, an RM who served here in Roatan and
returned to work. He showed us where they live and that they now have kids old
enough to be baptized. So, we gladly went and started teaching them...and they all showed
up to church yesterday! It was a great sight to see, all 9 of them squeaky
clean and in their best clothes. I loved seeing all of them happily sitting as
a family and seeing how happy it made Adolfo as well. They live pretty far away
and pretty deep in the jungle, but that just makes it more fun to go and see
them!
We have also been
teaching the Martinez family. This family is already very special to me. They
actually do the things we ask them to haha. They actually read the pamphlets we
give and the chapters we leave in the Book of Mormon - they have questions -
and they understand the things we say. Also they surprised us when they whipped
out a Book of Mormon from thin air! Turns out that one of their sons was investigating
the church for a long time before we came along!
We continue working
hard and bringing souls unto Christ. That is our purpose and what the Lord
expects of us. A lot of people say that the work here is hard, especially on
this island. Sure, it is a really beautiful place, but there are so many people
here ready to hear of this gospel. They most definitely are kept from the truth
only because they don’t know where to find it. I love the people here, I love
the culture, and I love preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the citizens of
the Honduras, San Pedro Sula area. We certainly are called by inspiration,
because I have fallen in love with where I am. As it says in Nehemiah "I
am doing a great work, and cannot come down." I am doing a great work
here, the work of the Lord. As a tool in his hands, I have lost myself. I never
see the time go, until all of the sudden I am in the internet shop writing my
family again.
This church is true.
Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us. He wants us to return to Him. He has
given us every little thing possible so that we can do it...and all He asks is
that we believe, and take initiative on what it is that we believe. I love the
Book of Mormon, that book has now become an extension of me. I drink from its fountains
daily and it changes me for the better daily.
Until next week,
All my love,
Elder Tinkham
