Mitini Branch

When Christ came to the Americas and taught the people there, there was an amazing feeling: “And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any men, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.” (Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 17:17)

I began to understand this statement better today. The meetings at Mitini were just so spiritual that there are no words available to communicate the powerful experience. Mitini Branch has only been in existence for 7 months. We wound up hills and onto dirt paths to get to the chapel which is a rented school. There is no running water. There is no electricity. No piano. No visual aids. People walk for miles to get there, and yet they were seated and waiting for the service to begin 15 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start. Hundreds crowded into the tiny room. We were knee-to-chair. Small children sat two to a seat. Except for a few babies crying, all 293 people were reverent. Below is a picture of the church. They use both buildings.

We met with the Branch President first, and his prayer brought tears to my eyes. I felt like God was standing there listening to his faith filled petition. He said his goal was to baptize 200 people this year, but he had not met that goal. They were 16 short. They had 13 people baptized the day before and so Sacrament was spent mostly confirming them Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and conferring the Holy Ghost on them and giving them priesthood blessings. That, plus passing the sacrament, plus a brief comment by “Our guests Elder and Sister Fox” and opening and closing songs and prayers were the meeting. I just spoke briefly on the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments of God. They are blessed in all ways, both spiritually and temporally. This is a photo of the branch President, his wife, some of their children, and a grandchild (the reluctant one in the picture is the granddaughter.)

The Investigators class was taught by a young man preparing to go on a mission. There were nearly 20 people in a 10x10 room. The branch has no full time missionaries. All these people were taught by these young men below, and a sister who just recieved her mission call to the USA.

The Relief Society was a combination of English and the native language—so I didn’t understand much of it, but Christine, one of the newly baptized members translated some. I’d asked her if she would tell me her story and after church I write it down. She’s a widow and her neighbor Elizabeth had introduced her to the church. She and her children had found faith and peace in the church. She had 4 living children. The grandmother was raising the oldest. She lived mostly off the food raised on her Chamba. I asked how she got money for other things—like clothing or sugar. She said, “Like tithing money?” Yes. “I have to contract out.” What do you do? “I dig in other Chambas for 10 to 50 bob a day. And then I have to budget carefully.” That’s 13-65 cents a day! Below, I'm standing with Elizabeth and Christine.

These saints have such faith and simple obedience to what they know to be true. My prayer is that the great faith and obedience of these saints will bring down the blessings of the Lord who owns all the earth and the wealth therein.