Dear Elders,

Dear Elders,

          I don't know your names, and it is probably for certain that you do not know mine.  But I am forever grateful to you both for everything you have done for me and for my family.  It has made all of the difference in the world.  Who could I possibly be? And what could you have possibly done for me and my family?  Well, let me refresh your memory...
          Do you remember the spring of 1964? That's right, you were both on your missions together in Santiago, Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  The church was relatively new in Chile and I suppose you were commanded to baptize priesthood holders and families to get the church started and continuing.  You lived on a particular street that you walked up and down every day to leave the house and proselyte and then to return home at night.  Well, my father and his family lived on that very same street.
         You passed by there every day, but one day you both decided to actually knock at my father's door.  He answered.  He was a little boy, only ten years of age.  He went to get his mother to talk to you both.  She was intrigued by what you had to say.  She had always seen you walking up and down the street and had wanted to know what you would say if she actually had a chance to talk to you.  Now she had the chance and you both took the opportunity to teach her the plan of salvation.  It changed her life.  Did you know that she had always wondered if she would ever see her deceased child again? And you gave her all of the answers.  My father always says that he remembers the lessons, not because of what you said, but because of how he felt.  He knew there was something different about you both and the message you were bringing.  You brought Christ into the life of my father and his family.  My father and his mother were the first to be baptized.  They were baptized in somebody's house I believe, which they had to take several buses to arrive to that particular house only to be baptized in someone's bathtub.  But, they didn't care because they knew it was true.
Within the following years, everyone in my father's family was baptized and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It really was a miracle what you both did.
But the miracle goes on...not only did my father remain active and keep going to church all of these years, but he served a mission in Chile.  He then met and married my mother and had four children.
That's where I come into the story :)

           I am the third of four children in the Perez family.  I have grown up in the gospel with the priesthood in my home and I have grown up to serve a mission, along with one of my older brothers.  It was on my mission that I fully began to understand what both of you have done for my family.  I feel like I was able to climb to the top of a mountain that showed the view I had been craving to see my whole life.  What I saw amazed me.  I saw and felt the sacrifice both of you had made to be worthy missionaries.  I saw the dedication you both put into your service as you searched, found, taught, and baptized my father.  You may have wanted to have better success by baptizing someone other than a tender mother and a ten-year-old boy.  But because you both baptized that boy, I was able to have the gospel.  And it has made all of the difference in my life.  I realized on the mission how hard it is sometimes.  It must not have been easy to start the church and spread the gospel in a place like Chile in 1964.  You both must have felt the weight of your call on your shoulders. It was probably hard, tedious work at times.  But, please know, please know more than anything that your labor had fruit.  And it was not just one fruit, but many fruits.  Because of your labor, my family has been rooted in the gospel and there have been many more missionary experiences we have all shared.  I thank you both from the bottom of my heart.  How did you both know to knock on that door back in 1964? I bet I was rooting for you up in heaven to find my father and bring him to the truth so that I could have it in this life.  Thank you.  You have given my family the greatest gift we could possibly imagine.

         Please know that it was all worth it.  You will probably never realize to the extent that you want the influence you had on your missions, but I just wanted to share the joy of something you both shared a long time ago.  "And if it so be that ye should labor all of your days and bring but one soul unto me. How great shall be your joy in the kingdom of my Father.  How great shall be your joy!" May your joy be great as you realize how much work you have done and how much fruit there is to enjoy because of it.

       Thank you both.  You have done a greater service than either of you will ever realize.  It was not in vain.  I live every day the blessings of your work.

THANK YOU!!

Love,

Sabrina, daughter of little Marito :)


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