It was in 1989 when I separated, finally, from my first husband.
And it was about three weeks after that,
and after feeling all this despair,
that one day my mother went to visit her sister that
lived in San Francisco.
And while she was there, a couple
of senior LDS missionaries came to my aunt to visit her.
And when I came back from work that night, my mother told me,
"Guess what?
I met this wonderful couple at your aunt's home,
and they invited us to come to church tomorrow."
And she said, "Will you mind coming with me?"
And since I was going through that very hard time,
I just said to myself, "I will go.
I really don't have anything to lose."
And that was the day when my life just changed.
I didn't know what to expect, but the moment
that I stepped into that building,
I just felt this wonderful feeling
of being in a special place.
I needed to find peace and solace for my soul.
I needed to find a place where I could help my son grow
and become a good man.
And it was the most amazing feeling.
It was a stake conference.
So I sat in this huge room full of people, everybody just happy
to be there.
And I sat there and I started listening,
and every single message seemed to be directed at me.
I felt so much hope by just listening to them.
And I just thought, "That is exactly what I want.
That is exactly how I feel and what I need in my life."
When the conference was over and we
were meeting with the missionaries again outside,
I just told them, "Can you please come to my house
and teach me more about this?
Because I want to know more.
I need to know more."
So we set up an appointment with the missionaries.
So that day, you know, I was really looking forward
to meeting with the missionaries that evening.
And it was around 5:00 p.m., and I was at the house
where I would take care of this girl, and I was with my son.
And all of a sudden, the ground started shaking.
So it was another earthquake.
And I felt--"Oh, my goodness, what is going on?"
And I just grabbed, you know, embraced the children
and waited for it to stop.
And I thought, "Oh, wow, what is going to happen now?"
I thought, "I'm sure the traffic is horrible.
Maybe some of the streetlights are not working,
and it's going to take me a long time
to do this route that I usually took going home."
When I went home, I called the missionaries and I told them,
"I'm sorry, but we don't have electricity.
And probably it's not a good night
for you to be out, so can we postpone our meeting?"
The missionaries came to our home,
and they started teaching us.
And it was amazing to see that everything that they said
made sense and gave me hope.
And they were so happy, and I loved the relationship
that they had with each other.
And I wanted to feel that joy.
I wanted to feel that happiness.
So about three weeks after they started
coming to our home, my mother, my brother, and me,
we joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
and we got baptized.
That day in which I was baptized was an amazing day.
And then receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and knowing that
I could have that gift with me if I was faithful--it was such
a feeling of feeling complete and whole and finally being
where I belonged.
Just a few days after that, I was watching the news
and I saw that the Berlin Wall had fallen.
And for me, that was so significant
because it was a symbol of captivity and injustice
and terrible things that were happening.
And for me, it was like a signal that my life
was going to just be so different from that moment on.
So I said, "OK, a new life is starting."
We were baptized in November, so soon after that, we
started singing Christmas hymns and songs in church.
And for me, that was so sweet because for the first time
in my life, I felt the true spirit of Christmas
and the reason why we celebrate Christmas.
Something that we do in Nicaragua
is that usually we have, like, a Nativity set,
and we put all the little figures.
But there is one that is not there yet,
which is the baby Jesus.
We usually wait until Christmas Eve at midnight
to actually put Him there.
I remember that day when Christmas Day came
after I joined the Church, and my son put the little Jesus
in the Nativity.
And just knowing what that little baby came to do--that He
came to show us the way, to give an example to us on how we can
be, and to suffer for us too, so He could understand our sorrows
and our feelings and our tribulations and so He could
extend mercy and love to us if we turn to Him--I think that
was just an amazing time in my life that gave me an assurance
and hope in the future.
Just a few weeks after I was baptized into the Church,
they extended me a calling, which
was to be the Sunday School teacher in the Gospel
Principles class.
And I was scared to death, you know.
I was a new member.
But they told me, "Don't worry.
There will always be people there that can help you."
And when I was teaching that Sunday School class,
one day a young man came.
His name was Carlos Aburto.
And of course he was just another person there,
but it happened that we became friends.
Maybe a year after I met him, I moved to Utah.
And after two years of living in Utah,
I went back during Christmas to see my sister.
And I went to church, and I just, you know,
had the desire to talk to Carlos because I
knew he was a good man, and he was my friend,
and I wanted to talk to him about life.
We realized that we had a lot in common,
that we really liked each other.
And I remember during that trip, we
had a conversation during hours and hours,
and it just felt like being with my best friend.
So we started dating.
I came back to Utah because it was a very short trip,
and we would talk over the phone.
And about two months later he came for a visit,
and he stayed in Utah for two weeks.
And that's when we got engaged.
I was able to marry him in the temple,
and our son was able to be sealed
to us, which was a beautiful moment, when the three of us
were kneeling at the altar, starting that eternal family.
After that, we had two children.
He is a miracle in my life; that's the way I see him.
He is a good man.
He is faithful in the Church, he loves serving in his callings,
and ever since, he has been my best friend.
It hasn't been easy, but we have had a beautiful marriage.
I remember the story of this cathedral in Germany
that was destroyed during one of the world wars.
And then the people in this town, in this city,
actually rebuilt that church.
And you can see in the church right now
how some of the bricks are black because they
are the original bricks that were burned during the bombing.
And then I realized that my life is like that church.
You know, I have gone through very hard times.
The scars are still there.
The consequences, the pain is still there.
But the Lord has rebuilt my life and has
allowed me to have joy in this life through His tender mercies
and through the Atonement of our Lord.
I know that He is our Savior and our Redeemer,
that He is the source of peace and healing.
And now I have the opportunity to be
a leader for the women of the Church and of the world.
And they can see that we all go through hard times,
we all have tribulation in our life,
but that God is mindful of each of us--He is mindful of me,
and He is mindful of each of us--and that He is always
extending His arms of mercy and love towards us so we can turn
to Him and have a better life.