Rainbows Matter

Rainbows Matter

It has been raining for over a week—so unusual for Laredo! All the grass and weeds have grown a foot this week, and the temperatures are under 100 every day. The whole city and countryside erupted in green and little streams of water. Saturday we attended Carmen’s baptism, and we came out to see a beautiful rainbow and hummingbirds all over a flowering tree at the church. Carmen has been attending institute, so we know her a little bit and were so thankful to watch her enter the waters of baptism. The rainbow reminded me of the primary song, “I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain and ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again. I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain. I want to be the best I can and live with God again.” What a beautiful thing to watch these young adults accept the the Gospel!

Today in seminary our lesson was on the worth of souls, D&C 18:1-16. It was a great conversation on how even teens can find ways to bring people to Christ. We had three convert baptisms on Saturday and confirmations on Sunday. Such a thrilling experience! We try to attend three sacrament meetings each week, and because of the confirmations we were in consecutive Spanish-speaking meetings on Sunday. It forces us to learn through the Spirit!

Last night we ended up feeding 8 missionaries as today is transfer day, and we will miss those who are going home or moving on to Corpus Christi and other places in the mission. We come to love these young missionaries so much! Elder Krommenhoek is from a neighboring stake in West Valley, so he may come visit our family in the next couple of weeks. Sisters Brown and Hughes said that Saturday was the best day of their lives. They were filled with such joy as they watched two investigators commit to Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism! We showed the picture to our seminary class this morning as a perfect example of D&C 18:16--15 “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”
I will post the picture because you can just feel the joy radiating from everyone in the picture! Our seminary students are looking for ways to “cry repentance” in their own lives even as teenagers. They serve in callings, bless and pass the sacrament, share their talents, serve as good examples in their schools, and show kindness and love to everyone. We are all a part of building the Kingdom.

Tomorrow we will make waffles for all the missionaries who stay in our District and the “greenies” who come to Laredo as their first assignment. We hear that there will be nine brand-new missionaries. Two of our favorite sisters are going to Corpus Christi—Sister Zidek and Sister Brown. Sister Zidek is from Kearns and joined the Church just the year before her mission. What an inspiration and brilliant missionary she is! Sister Brown is from St. George. You will see her in the picture I post.

The way we eat is always in the conversation. We can often find something we can eat at all the “fiestas,” but we mostly rely on fixing our own food. Last night we actually made two meals because one of the missionaries is lactose intolerant. We made steak fajitas and crack chicken. Have you tried crack chicken in the crockpot or instapot? Oh, it is SOoooo good! Sister Hughes said if her mother hadn’t taught her to act like a lady, she would have licked the bowl. Try it! We use chicken thighs, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing spices (we make our own to avoid sugars, but you can use the packages), bacon, and green onion.

I’ve been trying to study Spanish for hours each day. I do really love it.  It’s still hard to catch everything in church meetings, councils, and conversations, but we are learning. I come home and translate the hymns, the branch bulletins, the scriptures, and the Liahona (I can do the children’s stories best!). If we had known what it is really like in Laredo, we (maybe) would have learned Spanish better before we got here!

Last Saturday we attended a family-history workshop—mainly because I was asked to play the piano. We know we need to involve ourselves more in this important work! I did get one little memory written on how my parents met and fell in love on Family Search. I was able to find some pictures on my phone and some in Family Search to add to the story. Those of you who know more about the story than I do, could definitely fill in the story for me!

Every day is a blessing to us! We do not know exactly why the Lord called us to Laredo, but we do know that this is His work, and we are supposed to be here. We are learning and loving. Pray for us and the missionaries all over the world. We love you all!