Elder Hernandez

April 10, 2016

Elder Hernandez returned to the Dominican Republic the other day.  He had completed a full time mission and returned with honor.  He was closing in on 29 years old, so we wondered about “his story.”  He shared a little before he went home.

As I sat with him in the office where he would spend his last “mission” night in Mexico, he picked up the guitar and started to play.  It was very obvious that he had spent many hours with the instrument, and he immediately brought it to life with rhythm and song.  When Elder Hernandez was 13, he and his divorced mother joined the church. After chancing his life to join the church, he fell back into some old behaviors and moved away from the church teachings.  With the help of a loving mother, and good friends, he slowly felt the pull to return to church when he was in his mid-twenties.  He started preparations for a mission.  Most missionaries come in their late teens, or early twenties.  This was not his course.

Being a musician, he had spent time writing music. As the mission approached, he had a hard choice to make.  A music producer showed great interest in a song he had written.  He was offered a goodly sum of money – enough money that he could purchase his mother a home.  However, along with the money a contract was required.  Accepting it would mean he would go to work for the producer and not go on a mission.

Even now, 2 years later, he did not regret his decision.  And now with a successful mission behind him, Heavenly Father will guide his footsteps to his new path.