No unhallowed hand...

One day while I was serving in Denton, Texas, my companion Elba Quiroz and I decided to go tracting. At that point in the mission, we had to talk to at least 120 new people each week and some weeks that was difficult. At this time, it just happened to be one of the last games of the World Cup. Hispanics love them some soccer and we knew that there would be large gatherings of people all over the city watching the game.
We ended up finding a lot of people that day. A lot of them would tell us the score or invite us in to watch with them. Unfortunately we had to tell them no, but it was a very successful day and we met a lot of happy people. Who isn't happy watching soccer? One apartment in particular remains clear in my head.
After we knocked an older lady opened the door. She was very kind and sweet and was happy to see us. The living room behind her was full of her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. We talked to her for a moment and she invited us to come back a later day when she would be better able to talk to us.
A few weeks later we knocked on her door again. This time the living room was full of daughters and granddaughters, but we were informed that the woman was visiting family in Mexico and wouldn't be back for a few more weeks. We were kind of sad, but then they invited us in to talk to them. The granddaughters, the oldest being about 12, were making up a dance routine to "welcome" their grandma home. They performed for us and then were told to go outside and play. We talked to the older woman's daughter and daughter-in-law for a while.
It was an interesting experience. The daughter didn't know much about the LDS church or missionary work and had a lot of questions. But we didn't answer them. The daughter-in-law did. And the answers were right. Every time she answered, my companion and I just looked at each other. I could tell we were both wondering how she knew so much about the church. The oldest daughter (of the daughter-in-law), Alejandra, came in from outside and was listening to the conversation. Finally the daughter asked, "Are people from your church allowed to marry people from other churches?" The daughter-in-law was silent. But her daughter wasn't. Alejandra piped in with, "Well my mom did. She's Mormon. But my dad is Catholic."
Huh.
It took a little coaxing but Maria, the daughter-in-law, finally told us that she indeed was LDS. She had grown up in the church in Mexico, her family being very active and still active, and she had twin nephews that were serving missions. She, however, had stopped going to church when she married her husband. He was "muy Catolico" and didn't support his wife in going to the "Mormon church". She had gone a few times throughout their marriage, but it was hard on her, especially since her husband was not a big fan of Mormons. We could tell that it was a hard thing for her and that the fire was still burning. It was hard to see the battle between the desire that she had to be active and to participate in church and to not create disharmony and unhappy feelings between her and her husband.
We went back a few weeks later with Sister Strasser, the Relief Society president. She wasn't there but we talked with the daughter again. (The one with all the questions.) She was nice, but not too receptive. The next time we went back, we found out they had moved. Discouraging.
Miraculously, a few weeks later Maria called, gave us their new address, and told us that we could visit when her husband wasn't home. So we did. I only saw them three more times before I got transferred. One of the times we stopped by because we were in the area and her husband was home. He promptly left after giving us hostile looks. They were never able to come to church while I was there, but Alejandra did go to mutual a few times with Sister Corona and her daughter.
Fast forward to today.
I got a call this morning from Sister Strasser. THEY'RE GETTING BAPTIZED. Alejandra, Katie (the 2nd daughter), and ... THEIR DAD. Whhaaaaaattt!?!?! This is possibly the best news I have heard in a long, long time. I am so thankful for the faithful missionaries serving in the BMW- Texas Fort Worth Mission - right now. I'm grateful for the AWESOME members there and for Sister Strasser for thinking to call me with this amazing news. And I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who watches over His children. He knows the desires of our hearts and His timing is perfect. Words can't even express how happy I am for this beautiful family and for the covenants that they will make today.