[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
[RUMBLING]
[WOMAN CRIES]
Early morning on December 23, 1972,
there was a big earthquake in Nicaragua.
It killed about 10,000 people.
At that time I was nine years old.
I saw one of our neighbors taking care of my baby sister,
and then they went back to look for my brother.
They took him out, but he was already dead.
It was a very difficult time for us.
Our house was totally destroyed.
But at the same time, we received so much help.
I remember being there that night,
and just like an hour after--I cannot even remember how long,
but I saw my cousins coming, and they came to give us help.
And it was such a relief to see them.
I remember they prepared a place for me on the sidewalk,
and I just slept there because I was a child
and I was able to sleep.
Later on I heard that as they were waiting for the sun
to come up, to take my brother to the cemetery,
a neighbor which was not really close to us--we didn't really
know him very well--he stopped by and he said,
"Do you have a coffin for him?"
And my parents said, "No.
We were planning on just wrapping him in a blanket
or something like that."
And then he said, "Just wait for me.
I'll see what I can do."
Shortly after that he came back with a coffin.
And that was such a sweet expression of charity
and of love from someone that we didn't even know.
And then after that, we stayed a few days
in one of my aunt's neighbors' backyard.
And there were many people in there.
We were just sleeping out there because we would not
dare to go into any house because we were afraid
that something would happen.
And I remember lying down, you know,
looking at the stars at night and still thinking,
"What is going on?
When will I wake up from this?"
A couple of days after that, after everything happened,
my aunt came to me with a present.
And I remember looking at her and thinking, "Why are you
giving me a present?
It's not my birthday."
And she said, "Today is Christmas."
And I remembered.
I had totally forgot that Christmas was coming,
but she helped me remember.
And for the first time I cried.
I cried because I think that I realized that it was real,
that it was not really a nightmare, that it was really
happening.
I remember that there were some trucks that would pass by
and they would give us water, and another truck would pass by
and they would give us food.
And I know that all that came from people
from all over the world that came to help us.
During that period it was amazing to see all the help
that we received from strangers.
Even though I didn't understand back
then the concept of charity, I was
able to feel the love from those people that helped us.
And my gratitude was always there.
I was not yet a member of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.
Back then I really didn't know much
about the plan of salvation.
I just knew that my brother was dead
and that he was probably in heaven,
but I really didn't know exactly what had happened to him.
And I wondered many times if I was going
to be able to see him again.
I remember having that question and that longing in my heart.
"What happened to him?
Where is he?
Where did he go?
Will I see him again?"
When I was 11 years old, my mother
had a baby which was my baby brother.
And he was a reason for joy for us.
But it was very hard.
I remember that sometimes we would just
be sitting in the living room after,
and my mother would just start crying for no reason.
And I knew that she was hurting inside
because she didn't know exactly what had
happened to my brother.
It was maybe about two years after the earthquake
that I started having some kind of daydream, you know,
because I would think about my brother many times.
And I remember thinking, "Where is he?
Will I see him again?"
And then I started having this daydream
in which I would see him come to our door, knock on our door.
And then I would go and open the door,
and he would be standing right there,
and he would tell me, "Guess what?
I'm not really dead.
I'm alive.
I'm just somewhere else, but I was not allowed to come.
But now I can come to you, and I will stay with you,
and I will never leave again."
And I think that daydream that I had helped me
in coping with the pain and the sorrow that I felt.
It was more than 40 years after that earthquake in Managua
that one day I was doing my dishes.
I was in my kitchen.
And it was very close to Easter time, and during that time,
you know, we talk about the Resurrection of the Lord.
And I was just reflecting on that, you know,
thinking about the Resurrection and all that it means to us.
And then for some reason, I started
thinking about my brother.
And at that moment, it finally hit me.
And I remembered that daydream, that
fantasy that I had about him coming to me after he was dead.
And then I realized that it was not a fantasy
and that it was not a silly thing,
because through all those years I never told anybody about that
because I always thought that it was silly,
that it was just me, my imagination.
But then I realized that it was really the Light of Christ that
came to this little girl who needed comfort
at that moment of her life.
That was really revelation about the beauty of the Resurrection,
that my brother was somewhere else, that his spirit is not
dead, that he is alive, and that one day we
will be able to be together again
and then we will never separate again.
And for me, that moment was a moment of glory,
and it was joy and gratitude.
How merciful the Lord was with me,
that He allowed me to see that at that moment in my life
when I needed it.