Two nights ago, April 12, two of my friends, MeMae and Cindy called me over. We talked for a while and then MeMae said, “Before your family came, Ricky (her 15 year old cousin who comes to play and pray in our yard everyday) told me he did not want to be a Catholic, but now he sees your family eat together, pray together and have fun together. He told me he wants to be baptized this coming May.”
“Next month?!” I asked.
“Yes. Ricky has changed a lot. He used to say a lot of bad words but now I don't even hear him say them around our house (their families live in the same house).”
Then she said that his dad is not Catholic and is away right now. His mother is Catholic, so she gave Ricky advice to talk to his father about it when he comes back.
“This school year, he would like to go to Holy Rosary High School and he would like to become an altar server like I am. Since Maddie is going to Holy Rosary he would like to go so that he can follow her example.”
“Wow, that's good!” I said.
“I'm not a Catholic either.” Cindy said. “I'm a Jehovah's Witness. My mother died when she was on a boat. My father is not responsible so I live with my sister.”
Soon my sister Maddie called me inside. I was so exited to tell my family about all that I had heard! I had never really told my family anything this exiting before, usually either my family and I found out the exiting news together, or my dad told us about it. When I got inside the house I waited until my mom was free so I could tell her the good news. Mom listened in amazement. When I was finished talking, my mom said, “What? Wow! This is a big deal!”
“And Ricky is the one who always says, “Watch your language” when the other kids say bad words.” Maddie exclaimed. “I also saw Ricky and his friend attend Mass for the past 2 Sundays. Cindy also has been praying the rosary and she came to the graduation Mass with us.”
Now we realize that the day Ricky first came here his younger cousin, Clarence James, was sick and our neighbors were trying to find a plant in the garden to lessen the fever. My dad asked if we could go with them to pray over him when they took the plant. We went with them and prayed over Clarence James. The next day, he was cured! After that, Ricky started coming over to play in our yard everyday. Maybe he saw what God had done and wanted to learn more.
I'm so glad we are showing others a good example! We didn't even know Ricky wasn't a Catholic until Memae told us. We didn't even know he was watching our example! That's why we, especially as missionaries, should always do the right thing, even if others don't, because we never know who is watching!-Meredith
