Elder Staheli: Week 28: Tuesday December 17, 2013

Family,

I mentioned the Jamito family last week & they are great! However, it has been a crazy week with them this week. Originally, they were very receptive to the gospel. They still are & are still planning on being baptized, but the problem that we have had is that they have always been shy & hesitant to come to church. When we asked why, brother responded, "It's hot outside." We knew there had to be more to the story, & sure enough, we found out this last week. It turns out that brother Jamito was a drug addict in the past. We already knew this, but it turns out that his past has followed him. His wife's family doesn't like him because of his past addiction. In fact, they dislike him so much that they have been trying to kill him. This is why he can't go outside of his house. The other night, despite his death threats, they went out as a family to see the Christmas tree downtown. On their way home, they ran into her family. Her family jumped them & Alma's (his wife) nephew attempted to chop off her head with a sund-an (machete). Like a champ, she ducked & avoided death, somehow they escaped, & they made it home. They called the police, but they couldn't find them. This now presented a problem for us; it was not safe for us to be there at night. We gave them a blessing & told them to pray. We left, talked with our Branch President, & were advised not to return. However, being the great missionaries that we are, we went back. We talked to them about the problem & they told us that they agreed to speak together that evening - non violently. We received a text from Rolan (husband) later that evening saying that everything had been worked out. They expressed to us, with tears in their eyes, that it was only possible because we had brought the gospel into their lives. It has been an incredible journey with this family.

Love you guys!

Elder Staheli

12.12.13