The group picture at Delia's kitchen for Elder Murphy's Birthday party. From left to right: Elder Howlett, Sister Howlett, Delia Ramos, Elder Murphy, Elder Lewis
Delia is the mother of eight children, who are all raised and living in various places around Kansas. Her husband walked out on her for another woman years ago, but Delia continued to raise her special family on her own. Now she has several health problems, but she continues to do the best she can. A care giver has been assigned by the state to come in and help her every day and she is so grateful for her helper named Elsa.
When the Elders began teaching Delia it reminded her of the time she had visited her daughter down in Liberal, Kansas when missionaries were teaching her daughter down there. So it began to be very familiar and she really felt the spirit of what the missionaries were teaching her. She agreed upon a date for her baptism and the Elders began helping her prepare for that. It was at this time that Elder and Sister Howlett were able to get to know her and right away we realized what a special woman she is. It was a little hard for her to give up her coffee and tea which she had been used to drinking for years, but her doctor had been telling her to limit her intake of caffeine and now she doesn’t have to worry about her doctor convincing her to slow down on it. She is glad to be free of that addiction.
Because of her age she is having a hard time reading the Book of Mormon. So Elder Lewis and Elder Murphy helped her get a large print Triple-combination of the scriptures, containing The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. It had been a great help, though she still struggled to read the written word because she didn’t always understand what the words meant. Delia speaks fluent Spanish and very good English, but she has had a hard time reading either. She understands written English better than Spanish thus the Triple-combination in English was used for her.
However, Elder Howlett was concerned about a way to get her to understand more of it, since she understands the spoken English better than the written. So he and Sister Howlett purchased an inexpensive MP3 player and downloaded the entire Book of Mormon onto it (which only took about 1/3 of the space on it) and took it over to her to see if it would help her read the book. What a great help it is! She can now listen to it and follow along in the Book of Mormon as she listens and it is really helping her to understand much more of it. Delia is so grateful for the loan of that MP3 player so she can read/listen to the Book of Mormon well.
At right is a picture before Delia's baptism. Notice how concerned Delia seems. She doesn't like photos taken of her and she's a bit apprehensive. Those seen from left to right: Elder Murphy, Elder Lewis, Marcus Newport, Delia Ramos, Sister Howlett, Elder Howlett.
After church on that Sunday of 13 March 2011, they held a special Baptismal service for Delia. A recent convert sister named Mary Barajas gave the talk on Baptism and Sister Howlett gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Marcos Newport, who is a Young Single Adult who was recently converted and ordained to the Aaronic priesthood, baptized her with the help of Elder Grant Howlett. They were all three in the water and Marcos pronounced the words with the prompting of Elder Howlett. Then the two brethren helped her lay down into the water and come up “born again” clean. Delia said she was afraid at first, then when she saw the two men in the water she began to feel calm, and when she came up out of the water she felt so good, so clean she said. Many people were there to support her and she was very pleasantly surprised. It was a very good day for us all.
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