Tuesday, April 9thThe internet wouldn’t let us do anything at the office today so I took the time to catch up on my journal. It seems like I am always behind! I was able to get on the CHaS program for just long enough to check on our project. It is still in New Zealand. We know the Area Presidency is in SLC so it will probably be there for a week, if not longer. We are anxious!!!
We had a teaching appointment with Lina and her family today. When we got there Richard wasn’t there. He had been called to teach a class at the University of South Pacific. He is a very intelligent man and he is in high demand here. He asked his wife to excuse him and tell us about what happened with his parents this last week. They are “very Catholic” and they don’t want him to join the church. He had a big argument with his mother about it during the week and she got so upset that she passed out. It scared him. He really loves his mother and he wants to find a way to handle this so she won’t make herself sick. He watched conference while he was home on Sunday. If we had known it was going to be on KBYU, he has a cable plan, we would have gone to his house instead of going to church! Not really. But he loved conference and he told his wife all about it. He said that he will continue to read the Book of Mormon but he doesn’t want us to come to his house until he can get his mother settled down. We were really sorry to hear that and we are praying that it is not just a way to stop our meetings but Lina seems very sincere about wanting to have her daughters baptized and she will keep coming to church. Hopefully he will come with her. This is a matriarchal society and the mother and grandmother have great power here. Traditionally, no one opposes them and it is a big deal for a son to go against his mother’s wishes. We are praying that her heart will be softened and somehow Richard can become a member of the church.
