The Man From Oaxaca Update

We just got back from the Isthmus. As Gary Metzger's testimony of January 16, 1998 indicated, he had met a man on the bus near the Guatemala border while traveling to Oaxaca to assist here in my absence. The man told Gary that the Spirit of the Lord had told him to speak with Gary. They shared on the bus for about six hours before he had to get off. They exchanged names and addresses. Gary arrived here at 2:00 a.m. that morning and excitedly shared with me what had happened until 4:00 a.m. The next day I had to show Gary everything that I could about how to take care of the day to day matters, bills, etc. of the mission house before leaving for Independence that night at midnight.

I arrived back here Tuesday night about 10:00 p.m. after returning from Independence and the trip to Nepal. Gary and I talked and made plans for the rest of the night. One of us would lie down to rest while the other wrote letters, and then we would exchange places and then we would talk. We finally started packing the car about 5:45 a.m. (had planned for 3:00 a.m.) and got on the road by about 6:00 a.m. just in time for the gas stations to be opening up for business.

I drove most of the way southward as Gary seemed to need more sleep than I did. He drove some toward the last of the six hour trip. We were looking for the name of the town on the map. (It seemed to be a small town.) When we got to the turn off, it was a great big sign. There is a big cement factory in the town and it seems to be quite prosperous. We pulled into a gas station to fill up and I went into the bathroom to shave and wash my face. When I came back out there was a truck waiting to take us to see Nicolas. Two of his friends had just gotten off work and Gary had asked them if they knew where he lived. Of course they did. They waited for me and we went to his brother's (Adrian's) house and from there to his home. Nicolas was not home from work yet so his other brother (Ediberto) invited us in to visit briefly. We thanked the friends and they left. Ediberto offered to take us in our van to where Nicolas was working. We took him up on the offer and drove out into the country where Nicolas was tending a "tilapia" farm. Tilapia are fish that can be grown for food here in the warmer climates. They produce very well and are good eating. More about his work and the town later.

Gary had previously written to Nicolas that we would arrive there the day before. Gary had no way to be sure of the exact day that I would arrive, but as it turned out I arrived a day later. Nicolas told us that he had gone out and waited for us and had looked for us, hoping to help us find his house. Nicolas had told his parents, brothers and sister about his visit with Gary on the bus, so they were expecting our arrival.

Nicolas had drawn a mountain as he had seen it in a vision. I had brought one of my photos of Hill Rabon with us to show him. He had been told that the mountain was about 1,500 meters high. He was shown a shaved off portion, like a cliff, and that he would climb this mountain, stay there and write. Upon comparing his drawing to my photo, Gary and I were both convinced that it is the same hill. Gary gave Nicolas a list of scripture verses about the "hill" and hidden records and sealed portions and he spoke to us of them late the first night that we were there.

Gary pointed out that in certain aspects the life of Nicolas has similarities to that of Joseph Smith, Jr.'s life. Evil spirits often attempted to prevent him from praying. He has been searching for the true church of Jesus Christ. His family now strongly supports his experiences and the spirit that he carries. Each of his family has had spiritual dreams and visions as a witness.

Nicolas wanted to know how we had been called of God to be ministers. We shared with him numerous testimonies of our own and of others regarding calls to priesthood. We spoke of the gifts of the Spirit that have been operative in the Restoration from the beginning until now. During that first day Gary and I shared with him about the restoration of authority by angelic ministry, how the Church was restored and founded upon the revelation of truth.

Later Nicolas came home from work and we visited the rest of the afternoon and evening until 12:00 p.m. He shared a lot of things with me about his life until late in the evening when I began to share with him. I briefly showed him the Plan of Salvation with the Missionary Flannel graph and then the Body of Christ and then we talked about the Apostasy. He became very excited about the flannel graph and said that it was one of the pieces of the puzzle that he was looking for. I took him and his wife and little girl home that night around midnight again and he made plans to return in the morning at 9:00 a.m. before we were to leave.

I say "we" because Adrian and his wife Elisaida (& daughter) were planning a trip to Oaxaca to make some purchases for their shop. I was very glad to have someone to drive back to Oaxaca with me. They paid for part of the gasoline and bought my lunch during the trip. Eli also packed some sandwiches for the trip. They were good company and they are both also interested in hearing more about the "Fullness of the Gospel." It appears that there is a congregation of people down there that are already prepared and waiting for the Gospel. It is hard to judge from first appearances, but that is what I would guess. There may be ten to twenty people at first or more. There could be many more. It appears on the surface that the Lord has been preparing Nicolas for most of his life for some kind of work among his people. His brother Adrian, has also been prepared by the Lord for us. As we left, we stopped by Elisaida's home town a few miles down the road from Lagunas and saw her family. Before we left, Adrian was already talking with Eli's parents and asked if we would have time to show them briefly some of the things we had talked about with the Flannel graph. So we had a thirty minute Cottage Meeting before we left. Nicolas and his brother Adrian are excited about what they have heard.

Before leaving, I made arrangements to return in about three weeks and told Nicolas about the Seventy retreat in Oaxaca near the end of March. Hopefully he might be able to come up by bus to meet some of the other brethren while they are here. Adrian, his wife and daughter are staying with us here at the house for the weekend. He is interested in studying more while he is here. We will also go out to Mitla tomorrow and again on Sunday.

Nathan and K.J. stayed behind to hold the fort down while Gary and I made this trip. K.J. is still in school and it was good for them to try out their wings alone. It was also good for Gary to have some time to debrief me on how things went while I was in Nepal. Things seem to have gone very well. Some new contacts have been made and I'm looking forward to following them up. Nathan and K.J. will be able to help me to do that because they were here.