Have you ever logged on to Facebook and had a mysterious friend request from someone you had no recollection of? This very thing happened to Sister Fanene, a returned missionary who served in the Panama City, Panama Mission from 1997-98. The friend request came from a teenage girl she did not recognize from the profile picture, but when she read the name “Lynell Atencio”, it struck a nerve.
“In all the years since my mission, I have never known another family with the last name Atencio. Instantly, it made me think of Jose and his wife Yovanny from Burunga, Panama. Before responding to Lynell’s friend request, I checked out her profile. When I saw she was from Burunga, my heart dropped into my stomach.”
Sister Fanene and her companion, Sister Santos, had helped Jose and Yovanny get married civilly and prepared them for baptism. Sister Fanene tried to extend her mission because she was scheduled to return home two weeks before they were to be baptized, but….
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