Personal Profile: Miguel y Moroni

(Left to Right) Miguel, Moroni, me, and Carlos

(Left to Right) Miguel and Moroni's sister, Miguel, Moroni, and me

(Left to Right) Moroni, Miguel, me, Octavio, and older Carlos

Names: Miguel and Moroni

Ages: 10(?) and 6(?)

Grades: Not sure.....

Family: Dad, Mom, older brothers/cousins that I do not know, and a little sister (which I forget her name)

Favorite things: Soccer, playing tag, playing tazos (Mexican version of Pogs)



I met Miguel and Moroni at one of our Saturday programs for the kids. I believe it was the first or second one I was involved with. We were playing this potato sack race, except we had to be in teams of two. Everyone had a partner except for Moroni. I decided to partner up with him. The rules were just like a normal potato sack race, except your team had to completely finish before the other one. If your team won, you stayed and versed another team. Moroni is a lot smaller than the other kids, but he is extremely fast. He's almost faster than me! Moroni and I won about six races in a row before losing, which was amazing considering the amount of older kids we versed. After that Saturday, Miguel and Moroni would come by the church whenever I was outside and would play with me and whoever else happened to be outside at the time. Sometimes, I would just be alone, and Miguel and I would play catch with his little ball, which is about 2/3 the size of a baseball. Moroni would be with him most of the time, too. I would also see them whenever I went to the little store that their parents own and run.

Miguel and Moroni are very nice and respectable kids. Whenever they are at the Saturday program or whenever they are around, they are always kind and polite. They listen very well, too. Miguel answers the questions to the Bible story sometimes. A few days after the kids program one week, Miguel asked me where my lions were. After thinking about it, I realized he was referencing the Bible story we had taught them the Saturday before. Also, whenever they are told to do something, they listen right away, as well.

One thing that surprised me about Miguel and Moroni was the impact I made on them. On the last kids program I did, which happened to be the day before I left, Pastora Berenice had asked the kids if they wanted to say anything to me before I left. Miguel was the first one to say something: "I don't want you to leave because I love you." When I heard him say this, I legit almost burst into tears. Never had any of the kids said that to me before. Carlos called me his best friend and said he was going to cry when I left, and Tuco had told me that he didn't want me to leave, but that was the extent of that. It surprised me that it had came from him, too. I didn't really start being with Miguel and Moroni until the last few weeks I was there, so it wasn't like I had a solid relationship with them. I guess our relationship was a lot stronger than I thought. Moroni also played with me the whole day on Sunday before I left. I had given each of them one of my shirts as something to remember me by (the Mario shirt Miguel is wearing in the first two pics is the one I gave to him).

Unfortunately, by not knowing them too well, I'm not exactly sure how their home life is. By their parents owning a store and from what Carlos had told me about their house, they seem pretty well off. One thing I do know, though, is that they don't go to church. Now, they could possibly go to another church, but I don't think they do. the only time Miguel and Moroni get Jesus is when they come to our Saturday program. I don't believe Jesus or God is talked about much in their home. If He is, then I am unaware. When I go back, I'm definitely going to do my best to find out more about them and their family. Please pray that they do know Jesus or will come to know Him very soon. They are very nice kids, and I would be devastated to know that they don't have Jesus. I'm devastated when I know that any of my kids don't have Jesus. Being without money is bad, but being without Jesus is the worst thing ever, and I never want them to be without Jesus, which is the ONLY thing they need.