I met my wife while we were both serving in the Ecuador Quito Mission in 1984-1986. Many times after our missions she remarked that her most difficult area to work in was the town of Latacunga, where hearts seemed to be very hard. She told me of one instance in which she and her companion sat down and cried, frustrated, but praying that the Lord would bless and prepare more people for the message which they wanted to share. The small branch where they were working was not growing and prospects for growth seemed slim. But they knew that they must continue to work hard, and they did. A few months after we were married, we went to Utah for a mission reunion. A member from Ecuador was visiting, and during a time for testimonies this member got up and began to tell about the wonderful growth recently in the Church in Ecuador, especially in Latacunga, where the small branch in which my wife had labored was now averaging 120 in attendance each Sunday. This time my wife's tears were for joy as she listened in amazement.

I spent three months of my mission in a coastal town called Ventanas. There also was a struggling branch, with about 30 members attending each Sunday when I left there. The faithful members in Ventanas were some of the most humble, pure people I had ever met in my life. I visited there before I finished my mission, and a chapel was being built. I was overjoyed to learn that the branch was growing at a steady pace. But words really cannot express how I felt when, in 1996, I opened a church directory of units around the world and found not just a branch in Ventanas, but 4 branches in the Ventanas District! I recognized some of the leaders names, who had been young men when I was there. They truly have been blessed by accepting and living the gospel.

I have always been grateful that we have been able to participate in a small way in the Lord's fulfilling of the prophecy that the time would come when Lamanites should blossom as a rose.