Philander and Irish

September 3, 2011 was one of the best days of our mission. We have a lot of best days but this one was really good. It started with Christa Brown sending the baby things months ago. We looked and found a very worthy young couple, Philander and Irish Mueblas, from Talisay. We had noticed him when he came as a youth leader with his ward to do baptisms. He just radiated the light of the gospel. Their bishop agreed with our choice; they should get the baby things. They were one month away from the delivery of their first baby after miscarriages with previous pregnancies. They were so excited. When the baby came the chord was wrapped around its neck twice and it was born dead. They went into depression especially Philander who said he wished it had been Irish that had died; they separated and he stopped coming to church and didn’t want anything to do with the bishop or any of the ward members. A side note-- the week before we gave them the baby things Philander and his wife had been interviewed by the stake president, I believe, for a position in the bishopric. Things looked very bleak. Irish’s family and friends suggested she file for a divorce but she said, “We have a temple marriage that I am holding out for.” We were heartbroken. We put their names on the temple prayer roll and included them in all our personal prayers. Nothing good seemed to happen for quite a while. Brother Santiago had been Philander’s close friend. He was a temple worker and I would ask him about them periodically. After several months he reported to me that Philander and Irish were back together but he was not attending church. I ask Brother Santiago to tell them that we were praying for them. Yesterday the miracle happened: Philander and Irish came to the temple for the 9:00 session and then came over to the patron house to find us. Because of another small miracle and listening to the spirit I just happened to be home. Philander and I talked for a little bit and I found out that Brother Santiago had told them we were going home soon and wanted to see them at the temple. Then he asked for Sister Ward who was still in the room having just completed her shower. I told Mary she had to go down stairs and see them even if she did not look all put together. Irish was in the cafeteria finishing her brunch. When she saw Mary she hurried to her and gave her a great big hug. We talked and cried for several minutes. Irish told Mary that going through this trial really strengthened her to know how to help other people with trials. She is now serving as a counselor in relief society. Philander is a counselor in the elder’s quorum presidency; they both radiate the light of the Gospel. Then we decided to take pictures but Sister Ward would not agree until we got dressed properly so they waited while I showered and we both dressed. We took several pictures with their camera then we tried ours and the battery was dead. Then we went over to the temple and took some more pictures. They promised to give us copies of the pictures. If it hadn’t been for Christa we wouldn’t have ever gotten close to these people. Maybe they would have come back on their own but I believe our encouragement and prayers were a big help. I know sincere prayers are answered. Whatever, it sure was a blessing for us. Love, Dad