In the summer of 2016, I attended church in a town called San Jose Iturbide, Mexico! 4 other girls and I lived in a small apartment across the street from the school that we taught English at. We arrived in San Jose on a Saturday, and of course I planned to go to church the next day. I was overjoyed when I heard that church was across the street, ALSO IN THE SCHOOL!

It is in an upstairs classroom in our small school. I realized that church was going to be in Spanish, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. When I walked up the stairs, and entered the small room, I immediately noticed that there was no piano. Strange. No piano in the room that we attend sacrament meeting in??? (Thoughts to myself: Oh, right. Snap out of it. You’re in Mexico now). Instead, they have LDS Gospel Library Hymns playing through a speaker. Each hymn sung in that room is extremely off tune, and sung at the wrong tempo, but the people here sing with their whole soul. They put so much feeling into those hymns, and it sure does cover up the terrible tune, and makes it beautiful.

I then noticed that there were not any pews. Just chairs set up side by side, about 6 rows, 4 chairs per row, and 2 columns, with an aisle in between. I was loving this new experience. It was such an eye opener. As they began Sacrament Meeting, speaking words that sounded like mumble jumble to me, I just sat and thought about what a blessing it is to have the gospel so widespread across the world. Oh, how lucky we are!

As they blessed the sacrament in Spanish, I felt the spirit more than I ever have during sacrament meeting. It was so comforting to experience first hand, the consistency of the gospel, and the exactness of the ordinances that we perform in our church, no matter where you are.

I have come to understand the importance of going to church so much more since I’ve been in Mexico. I have gained a much better appreciation for the blessing, passing, and partaking of the sacrament. I understand very little during the remainder of sacrament meeting, but I have come to understand better that the ordinance of the sacrament is the main reason for our attendance. If you don’t go to church for any other reason, go with the purpose and intent of improving yourself through the Atonement of Christ. The Sacrament gives us that opportunity each week, and we must not take that for granted.

Oh how blessed we are!

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How the Baril Family Testimony Board got started: