A Lesson in the Richness of Love

By Matthew and Camilla, parents of Rhiannon who is currently on mission in El Salvador

We recently returned from visiting our daughter Rhiannon at the mission house in El Salvador. Rhiannon arrived there in December of 2020 and quickly fell in love with the mission and the people. During our brief visit, it became clear why! As we accompanied Rhiannon, she was greeted everywhere with glowing smiles and warm embraces. Children of the neighborhood would run to her and jump into her arms, elderly and infirm would stretch out their hands to offer a warm touch. It was clear that the people of that neighborhood loved her and that she receives that love every day. 

Early in our first full day there, Rhiannon suggested that we take a walk around the neighborhood to meet some of the families. We didn’t get far. One of the first homes we visited was so excited to see Rhiannon and to meet us that we stayed for well over an hour! This was a house with a complicated family structure. The matron of the house was a cheerful woman, perhaps in her fifties, who shared this ramshackle dwelling with several of her daughters and their children. I don’t recall seeing any of the fathers of those children. There were a couple dogs, at least one kitten, and several chickens scrambling around on the dirt floor.   

When it came time for us to leave, the family invited us, along with the other members of the mission house, to come back the next day for lunch. We were struck that this family with so little was, in the spirit of friendship, so eager to share with us whatever they had. We happily accepted their offer.

We are grateful to have witnessed what Rhiannon so much adores about life on mission with Con-solatio. A community suffering from deep poverty offered us a lesson in the richness of love.