He is in the Details?

We first met Esteban at the church where a friend was being baptized. We don’t see him often because he is in the other ward. We did meet him on two other occasions, one time we talked with him (with the sisters interpreting) about his life and interests as we were waiting outside the church for a meeting. Although we didn’t understand the words, we could tell he was a pretty special man. Turns out that Esteban has been taught by the sister missionaries for the past 7 months and is an amazing humble fellow. He appears to be about 50 years old, but his hard life in the outdoors makes it hard to tell. He left Mexico many years ago to try to make a better life for himself. He came alone, and never married. In his loneliness he began drinking and this has been his obstacle in getting ready for baptism.

As the sisters were teaching him, his roommate became interested, and it is this roommate whose baptism we attended two weeks ago. Esteban gradually turned a new leaf. He changed his habits and started learning to read and change his life style. Finally this week Esteban was ready. He had left his crutch and his old life behind him. Much like King Lamoni's father who said, "O God…wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee….”

On Wednesday evening Esteban met with the district leader at the church and had his baptismal interview. It went well and Esteban was very happy that he was going to be baptized on Friday.

Yesterday, Thursday, Esteban was walking past a store when a woman in the parking lot missed her brake and hit the gas instead, going up onto the sidewalk and smashing into Esteban and pushing him through the plate glass window. His leg was crushed and he lost most of his blood. They life-flighted him to the hospital but he has not regained consciousness and is not expected to live.

The ward mission leader (a previous mission president) and the bishop gave him a blessing last night of forgiveness of his sins on behalf of the church and thus sealing him up.

The Lord has such interesting ways of fulfilling his promises He made to us as He sent us here to this earth. He is in the details of our lives, oh if we only recognized it. God bless Esteban.

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