"... But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."
Elder Bednar described what he thought were the tender mercies of the Lord. He said,
"...I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase "the tender mercies of the Lord." Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."The key words are personal and individualized. Heavenly Father reaches down from the Heaven's to bless us personally and individually. He knows us. He knows our needs. He loves us. He blesses us.
I have seen "tender mercies" from the Lord here in Panama. Actually, almost weekly. I have seen His tender mercies in my life and in my service here. I have seen His hand in the lives of many people here. In the lives of many of the young missionaries. Their stories are so inspiring.
Here are some of my experiences:
I love our missionaries. We have missionaries from Argentina to Mexico to the US. Mostly our missionaries come from central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, etc.) The highlight of most missionaries week is the email they receive from home. Many of our missionaries don't receive emails. Their families don't have internet, or they don't live near internet cafe's or they don't know how to use it. I am amazed by the missionaries with little support from family, who work every week, work hard and do the best they can. Some have no parents who support them- they have a grandma or relative they left behind. The tender mercies of the Lord are truly with them as they serve.
One of our recent missionaries is from a very strong family. His parents served missions. It's a great legacy to have children brought up in the gospel.
It is impossible to relate the impact this family from Venezuela has had in the Santiago Branch. They served as leaders, visited so many families, encouraged and uplifted. Sometimes when people are only going to be in a place for a short time, they don't get involved. Not the Sanguinos. They jumped right in and worked up to the day they left.
Another great family is the Gonzalez family. Ekatarina and Juan Diego have a beautiful young family. They came here a year ago and are a strong committed family in the branch.
The sweetest tender mercy I've seen is visiting inactive members and seeing them want so badly to come back. The Lord was preparing them. He was helping them get over past hurts, past pains, and past forgetfulness. He needs them to build His kingdom here. He has prepared them, He is bringing them back.
I love Elizabeth Rodriguez Barria. She was in the church for many years before her family slowly fell away. She left home, joined the police force and found her true love. We visited her parents, eventually met her, was invited to their home and proceeded to teach her husband. He had never been interested in church before but listened, prayed, studies, and decided to be baptized. Elizabeth is like she never left. She had been preparing her three daughters. Her and her mom, Raquel, had taught them Primary songs, taught them to pray. I wish I could bottle Jocielys and share her enthusiasm and energy. In two weeks her father will baptize her.
Jose, the dad, is strong, firm and ready. He is a captain in the police force in Panama. He comes home on his days off.
Estelda and Ruben Madrid are the best of the best. They had been gone a long time from the church. The Lord has healed their wounds and is blessing them. Last Sunday their son, a member, came to church with his wife who is taking he discussions. I could tell the first time I met Estelda that I would love her. She is bright, happy, radiant.
The first time we visited Elmer, he told us he wanted us to meet his girlfriend, Digna. Elmer was a less active member who hadn't been to church in a while. Digna was visiting her family so it took a couple of weeks to finally meet her. From the beginning, she was receptive and open to our message. Our challenge was in teaching Digna. She is deaf and mute. Coming from the "campo" the boonies, she hadn't had much education until she went to the special school in Santiago. There she learned sign language and was on the winning volleyball team! This is a big tender mercy. I had learned sign language years ago when a friend went deaf. I learned some signs. I cannot say that I had any great skill. Now, over 30 years later, I'm signing to a deaf woman in Spanish. This truly is hard to explain. We were able to get a book on signs for Panama but it is very limited. There are very few signs for religious concepts. I knew the church had specific signs for the church concepts so I found that. When I had to teach a concept with new signs I would teach Digna the sign for the church principle. I had tears in my eyes as I signed the blessing she received when she was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.
The picture below happened a few months ago. We had been working with a few of these men to encourage them to come to church. This particular Sunday Mark looked around and realized we had 8 former branch presidents at church and the current branch president on the far right. They are lined up in order of service. They aren't necessarily consecutive. Some who had served as branch president are missing, some have passed away but these all came the same day. It was very emotional actually. Of the nine in the picture, 4 were inactive last year. This truly was a tender mercy or maybe even a miracle. We truly saw the Lord's hand in getting everyone there that day.
Heavenly Father has truly blessed my life. I have a wonderful husband, three great children and I'm able to fulfill one of my life long dreams- to serve a mission with Mark. We are busy, we are working hard, and we truly are blessed "more than we deserve".
