“That Is the Lord’s Money!”
When Rene Bram Navas returned from his mission to Costa Rica, he met Lissette I. Quesada, another recently returned missionary. They courted and were soon married. Although they had very little, they were happy.
During a time when food and money ran out, Rene was troubled that his young wife, who was pregnant with their daughter, was hungry, and there seemed to be nothing he could do. She woke one night, crying, because she wanted chicken, and they did not have money to buy it. “My faith faltered,” he said. After considering their options, he felt their only choice was to use their tithing money to purchase food.
Lissette stopped him as he was leaving the house and asked where he was going. He told her that he was going to buy food. She asked him, “With what money?” Feeling guilty, he responded, “The money we have been saving.” It was their tithing money.
“That is the Lord’s money!” she said. “You will not use that to buy food.” Her faith prompted him to put the money back, and they went to bed hungry.
The next day was Sunday, and they went to church fasting. They walked five kilometers (three miles) to the chapel because they did not have enough money to go by bus. Rene stopped and gave the bishop their tithing money. “But we did not want to talk with the bishop and ask for help,” Rene said, “because we saw other families who were worse off than we were.”
As they started to walk home from church, an inactive member called to them from her home. Her husband was a fisherman and had caught more fish than they could use. She gave them three small fish wrapped in a newspaper. They thanked her and continued home. Next, they were stopped by another member who gave them tortillas. Lissette had served her mission in that area, and several of the individuals and families she taught also stopped them. One gave them rice, and another gave them beans, while others gave them sugar, oil, and avocados.
By the time they reached home, they had enough food for two weeks. They knelt and prayed, thanking Heavenly Father for blessing them and asking for forgiveness for their lack of faith. To their surprise, when they unwrapped the fish, they found three large fish rather than the three smaller ones they had seen.
This experience taught Rene and Lissette that God is mindful of them and their needs. This shaped their service in the Church. The Church grew considerably, and in 1998, several new stakes and districts were created. Rene served as president of the Panama City Stake. Then, in 2006, Lissette and Rene were called to preside over the Colombia Bogota South Mission, where they worked to teach those under their leadership about the blessings that come from obedience and faithfulness.