2/6/23: On the Roof of a Bolivian jail
I'll start with the happy. All five of the boys in the Familia Coimbra were baptized on Saturday!! It such a happy and spiritual day. Each of the boys were excited for baptism, Victor (19) and Boris (17) had studied diligently in the Book of Mormon and prayed to receive a strengthened testimony of the restored gospel. Alexander (14) was first up to share his testimony after the baptism. And Alvero (9) and Ramon (8) raced to the font after having changed into their oversized baptisimal clothes. We said a prayer before with the whole family and each brother congratulated and hugged one anouther as they climbed out of the font. It was a great day for everyone.
Now the sad part. Their mom, Isela, was supposed to be baptized alongside them but she could not and it's a long story why. In the morning of the day before the baptism we get a call from our elders quorum president. He told us he went to visit the family and said they had some strange news. He said we needed to visit them later in the afternoon. I called Isela right away and she told me she had visited her husband, whose currently in jail, and he was not in support of the baptism. We told her we'd be by as soon as possible. We went back with our elders quorum president to talk with the Isela and see what we could do. She said he was pretty upset and he wasn't answering the phone. We prayed together and decided to go visit the jail. We walked over in pouring rain.
Getting into the jail was surprisingly very easy. They didn't even check our bags and just had us leave our phone. Bolivian jails are not at all how I imagined other than its the worst place on earth. The only was I can describe it is that's is like a mix of mos Eisley from star wars and the pirate town in pirate of the carribien. Just really smelly and a bunch of weird people moping around. The rain added to the atmosphere as well. We made our way to the very back wading through the flooded floors and stepping over sleeping people. We folled Isela closely as she weaved through the crowds and people shouted and jeered at "los mormones". Finally we made it to a delapatated wooden structure in the back of the prison the look like the prisoner had built it. We scooted sideways though the narrow halls ducking our head below the low ceiling and climbed up the steep stairs, almost more like a ladder, to the second story. We walked down the hall right to where it ended in a two story drop with another slick metal roof to the right. To my shock Isela hooks a right and steps out one the slippery roof and starts climbing. We climbed up to a small makeshift room sitting on the roof where her husband was waiting. We barely fit the five of us in there. Her received us well and offered a blanket to sit on and so we began the visit.
Her husband, Gasper, got fired up about how we should have told him a out the baptism and how it's unfair that he wasn't told the his was was going to be baptized until the day before. He list scriptural verse from the Bible about union and marriage and how its unjust that we acted with out him. To subside the tension I asked if we could pray. Isela offer the sweeted most genuine plea to God and for the first time since entering the prison I felt the spirit again. We tried to explain the situation of the baptism and all the blessings Isela and her family would receive, but he refused to listen. Finally I insited that Isela speak for herself and she bore a tearful and powerful testimony of how daily prayer and scripture had changed not only her life but the course of life of her children. Even after such a spiritual testimony, the husband wouldn't budge. He said he'd sue us if his wife was baptized (a certainly empty threat) and Isela told him to do it because she was certain about getting baptized. It broke my heart to tell her that without the spouces approval, the church would not baptized her so as not to divide a family. She wept after hearing this news. By a miracle he said he let his children be baptized the next daybut jot his wife. Without my phone I had nothing for him to sign to give permission I wrote our a makeshift permission document and had him sign it. We left him a book of Mormon and invited him to read. I felt no anger as we left, only remorse for Isela. She told us she would fast and pray for a miracle. Later we cried together reading D&C 121 but the voice of the Lord spoke to each of us throught the words found in verse 7.
The story is not over. Isela is determined to be baptized and her husband is now adamantly reading the Book of Mormon with great curiosity. Please pray for Isela and as well her 8 children that the can all have joy in a difficult and confusing time. Also pray for Gasper that he can have an open heart and be conforted in the lonely solitude of prison.
Lots of emotions, but Christ was at the center of all these events. All goes according to the will of God. Patience and charity will be the key to softening a caliced heart.
Thanks for the prayers
Elder Allen
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