12/28/20: Prospero Ano y Felicidad

 A great, productive, spirit filled week here in Dinuba! We were able to put one of our friends, Luisa Herrera, on date for baptism as another friend named Enrique!! They are amazing!!

I dont have much time today and so I want to share an expirience I had this Christmas.

My companion and I had a wonderful Christmas and Heavenly Father blessed us with several opportunities to spread the light of the gospel and remember the true meaning of Christmas. The opportunity that stands out the most clearly and that I am most thankful for was the chance to serve the Mendota family. They are a family of 7 children, all of which we were teaching for a time... but the kids (ages 8-18) rarely focused on what we had to say and would actively reject us... and the parents expressed no interest in the message either. However, although we stopped teaching the family officially, we decided it would be worth it to keep constant contact with them. Especially the kids. The family lived in pretty horrible conditions. The kids wear the same clothes everyday, have to sleep on the floor to make room for men who rent out the bedrooms, their hair is matted, and there never seemed like there was any food in the home. So we decided to pass by every few weeks to drop off cookies and candy or say hi and chat with the parents. It had been a little while since we had last contacted the family but on Wednesday we received a call from one of the men that rents a room in the home. He told us that the mother had slipped and fallen in the bathroom the night before and she had passed away that night. We immediately made plans to pass by the next day. When we passed by the kids were in shock, most of the men that live there were drunk, it was dirty with out the mom there to clean or cook. We talked to the oldest daughter and she told us the whole story of what happened. She had tried to perform CPR and she and her siblings watched as their mom passed away infront of them. All we could do was cry with her and share our testimonies of the plan of salvation. We were pretty shocked and didnt quite know what to do... but after talking about it with the daughter we felt prompted and decided to call a man we know from the English congregation. But he came over asap and talked with the family and the daughter. We learned that the kids didnt have anything for Christmas and so we were able to share with Brother Mitchell what we knew about each of the kids and we got some gifts for them! Brother Mitchell knows some people and resources and is currently helping the family plan for a funeral using some resources he has. This will be a huge help for the family as they had no money for a funeral. He is also helping the oldest daughter find a job as she is the only one in the family that can work and that speaks english. We are in daily contact with the family and the kids. Things will continue to be very difficult for them and it hurts my soul to see these kids that I love suffer like this. We are thankful however that we were able to at least find and provide some resources of help. We plan to talk to the dad about the plan of salvation this week as he has a lot of guilt about what happened. The oldest daughter as well. Our friend, brother Mitchell told us afterward that he had actually been praying to find a family to help this Christmas season. The lord provided!

I hope all is well! Have a very happy new year! 

Hermana Allen

Christmas breakfast. Ice cream with the elders. One of our friends Christmas tree and doggys. caroling to hermano Rodriguez.