Elder Jorge Galindo Flores was a young man with a wise man's eye for the future.
Before answering the call a couple of years ago to serve in the Oaxaca Mexico Mission, the Church convert bought a lot in the rural Acayuca community of Pachuca, Mexico, and began building a house for his widowed mother and three younger sisters.
Elder Flores didn't have the money to finish the home — but he wanted his family to have something to look forward to. The family had known much of economic challenge and emotional loss.
But Elder Flores' concern for his family did not stop with their temporal well-being. Before leaving on his mission, Elder Flores baptized his mother, Maria Antonia Galindo Domingues, and two of his sisters.
Sadness would visit the Flores family — and Church members throughout Mexico — when Elder Flores was killed last November after being struck by a large truck that had jumped a curb.
News of Elder Flores' death traveled beyond Mexico. Utah businessman Mitch Huhem and his wife, Patricia, were deeply saddened when they learned of the accident. Brother Huhem was, like Elder Flores, a convert to the Church. The two had met by chance in the hallway of an LDS meetinghouse two years earlier. In their introductory discussion, the young man told Brother Huhem that he desperately wanted to serve a full-time mission, but lacked the money to serve at that time. Impressed by his earnestness and touched by his spirit, Brother Huhem volunteered to assist Elder Flores with his mission.
The newly called Elder Flores would quickly develop a mission field reputation as a hard worker, leader and effective teacher.
"He made miracles happen in the mission field as he continually found, taught and baptized families," Brother Huhem wrote in his journal.
After learning of the missionary's death, and knowing of the Flores family's humble circumstances, Brother and Sister Huhem wondered what could be done to help ease the pain of their loss. The Huhem's good friend, Arturo Morales, had a cousin named Armando Pineda serving as the elders quorum president in the Flores' home ward in Pachuca. They inquired about the family's economic situation in the aftermath of the tragedy
"The family had nothing," Brother Morales said. "On an (economic) scale of one to 10, they were a zero."
Brother Huhem decided to help finish the work that Elder Flores started and complete construction on the family home. "We felt a debt to Elder Flores and a debt to our Heavenly Father," he said.
Brother Huhem delegated the task of finding builders and organizing work details to Brother Morales, a native Mexican with a background in construction.
On April 14, the two men — along with their wives, Sister Huhem and Niki Morales, and their young children — traveled from Utah to Mexico to begin the construction project. Before beginning on the house, the Huhem and Morales families turned their attention to Elder Flores' grave located in a small cemetery about two blocks from the home site.
Elder Flores' burial plot was little more than a pile of earth adorned with a few flower pots. Sister Galindo Domingues had nothing to sit on but a discarded brick when she visited her son's resting place. "There was nothing there to pay honor to a good missionary," Brother Morales said. Plans were made for immediate improvements.
A finely-crafted gravestone marker was carved by local artisans and placed atop Elder Flores' burial plot during a small ceremony on April 16, Easter Sunday. The gravestone includes an engraving of the Savior embracing a likeness of Elder Flores, along with an image of the Book of Mormon. Included, in Spanish, on the gravestone are the inscriptions: "Born To Be Great," and "Called to Serve in the Hands of God."
The next day the work began on the small, partially constructed block home. For five long, hot days, the Huhem and Morales families were joined in their labors by ward members, prospective and future missionaries and local construction workers who would learn about the faith and testimony of Elder Flores. Each day began with a prayer and hymns.
The non-LDS workers agreed not to smoke, drink or swear. Their shared efforts were exhausting, spiritual and life-altering, said Brother Huhem.
The home project is expected to be completed in July. The Huhem and Morales families plan to return to Pachuca to help put the finishing touches on the new house.
The new Flores home will not be mistaken for a palace. It is, instead, functional and secure and comfortable. Included in the project is an area where Sister Galindo Domingues can earn her living as a seamstress and raise chickens and canaries. By agreement, the home cannot be sold or mortgaged. As a consecrated building, it will bless the lives of many for years to come, Brother Huhem said.
Perhaps the highlight of the recent building project occurred inside a sealing room in the Mexico City D.F. Mexico Temple. There Sister Galindo Domingues received her endowment and was sealed to her late husband and her children. She was escorted by Sister Huhem and Sister Morales.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com