Dear Family,
This week we’ve been working really hard with the members to get the attendance up in sacrament meeting. We were told that if we had more than 70 people they would start looking for land to build a chapel. President Fortuna spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday and we had 87 people in attendance. We doubled last week’s attendance! So now the branch president is looking for a plot to purchase for construction!
We are teaching a family of 4 and they came to Chruch yesterday. Natividad is a member of the church but has been less active for years and Factoria isn’t a member. I admire Factoria a lot. We’ve been teaching her a lot lately and she wants to be baptized but they need to get married first. It’s a Little complicated because she doesn’t have an identification, nor does she exist in the system in Honduras. Her story is a sad one but she’s told us a bit about her background in order for us start the process of applying for her identity. Her parents abandoned her when she was a baby and an older woman took her in and put her to work. She treated her badly so Factoria ran away when she was 9 years old and started working in a house with another family that also treated poorly. So, left again and that became the pattern of her life. She went from Catacamas to Comayagua, to Siguatepece until a friend from work told her she could work in Marcala with her so they came here together but unfortunately her friend didn’t have work for her after all and she was left alone in a park looking for a place to sleep. That’s when she met Natividad who took her in and they’ve been together ever since. That was for years ago. Now they have two small boys and they’ve started coming to church. Factoria has been reading the Book of Mormon every day. Even though she doesn’t capture everything, she is faithful in reading every day. We asked her where she learned to read because she never was allowed into school and she said she just picked up books and learned on her own. This woman continues to amaze me! And the thing I admire most about her is her humility. When she told us about all what she went through, she didn’t complain or exaggerate. She just told how it was with a cheerful innocence in her voice. When we taught a lesson this week she closed with a prayer saying, “Please bless so that I can get baptized”. She is so pure, as I’ve been getting to know her I see her as a diamond in the rough. She is such a precious daughter of God that has been tested and tried and that deserves the best blessings that the Lord has prepared. Right now we are trying to get a few papers in order to obtain an identity card but it’s been really tricky. Please keep her in her prayers.
Love you all,
Hermana Jackson
p.s. attached is a picture of Factoria and Natividad. She looks really young but shes actually 21
