I had a special interview in Cosamaloapan with Elders Courtright from West Valley City and Peña. Wow. What a humble family. There were two granddaughters, ages 9 and 11, a 20-something year old daughter, and the grandma. They had been going to a pentecostal group for church. The missionaries found them and they loved the Joseph Smith story. They desired baptism.

On the way to the interview, the elders told us that the family had a tiny business in the front of their very tiny house. They sell antojitos which are little pieces of fried anything with a tortilla. They are appetizers, officially, but in this case they are fried junk food, very cheap. They didn't really make any money, barely enough to survive, usually profitting about 20 pesos a day. They prayed for help and went to church faithfully. Then came a miracle.

A man came by and offered the grandma a job for 1500 pesos a week! Downside: It was seven days a week, Sundays required. Oh, how she was tempted. They were in dire straits. She prayed hard and decided that her baptism and membership in the Church were more important. She turned down the offer. With that background in mind, we pulled up to the little cement house. It was much more humble than we coud have imagined.

The antojito section had the floor space of about a sheet of plywood--4x8 feet--with a window front and a door. Pans were stacked, filled with cooking oil. There was a gas burner behind where the cook would stand. Back of all that was a blanket covering a doorway. We were invited into the back. To the left was a double bed covered with a blanket; it was a double, not a king or queen. Side to side, it went from wall to wall. To the right was a sitting area of about the same dimension. The grandma, named Maria, unstacked a couple of plastic chairs and offered us a seat. I took her out to the van for the interview and told Mom that she could come outside where there was more air. She said, "No. This will be just fine," and sat down to talk with the little girls.

The interview was easy. Hna. Maria was very well-prepared and very anxious to receive her baptism. The four were baptized the next day. The bishop's wife, standing in the back, was there. They live three doors down the street and are taking very good care of this little family.


They were all baptized the next day.

The following Saturday, the assistants drove to Cosamalopan with a couple of old missionary mattresses for the little girls to throw down on the floor.

I talked with the baptizing elders yesterday. They said that the man who offered the job came back. He offered Hna. Maria the same job, same pay, but told her that he would not require her to work on Sunday.

Miracles.