MADRID, Spain — Members of the Mateo family in the Cartagena (Spain) 2nd Ward are grateful for many things, including the fact that one of them overheard a conversation carried on by an elderly LDS couple in their neighborhood. That overheard conversation led to the conversion of the entire Mateo family, which includes five children who have served or are serving missions and one who plans to serve.

The family's conversion began one day in 1986 when Cristina Mateo Aguilar cleaned house while her husband and older children were away for the day. With the windows and doors open, she heard Salvador and Llola Ros talk as they strolled up and down the sidewalk. They were talking about a modern-day prophet.

Having spent a good portion of her childhood living under the care and tutelage of Catholic nuns, she was interested in religion in general and the Bible in particular. "I thought prophets were just in the old times, but my elderly neighbors were talking about a living prophet," Sister Mateo said. Driven by curiosity, she asked the couple to tell her about the prophet of whom they were speaking. They sent sister missionaries who taught all the family, except the father, Antonio Mateo Barreto.

"Our mom prayed and received a testimony, which made her decide to be baptized," said a daughter, whose name is also Cristina. "So on Aug. 2, 1986, she and my older brother, Tony, my older sister, Marilo, and I were baptized. The other children were not old enough."

Antonio Mateo was not entirely pleased that his wife and three older children had joined the Church. Twins Mary Paz and Ramon wanted to be baptized, also.

"Our dad was so against the Church — incredibly against the Church," Cristina said. "Our mother had a big problem because Mary Paz and Ramon begged to be baptized. I know that the Spirit touched our father's heart because he let Mary Paz and Ramon do whatever they felt was the right thing. They were baptized two years after we were baptized. During all this time, our father was very against the Church; he would not let any Mormons come to our home — no missionaries or members to do visiting teaching or home teaching or anything. We really had a big problem."

In what all members of the family now testify was an answer to their prayers, Antonio Mateo's heart began to soften. "He began to remain in the room with us when we had our family prayers," Marilo said. "Then he started having family home evening with us. Little by little, his heart started changing. He let the missionaries come into the house. Then he started to listen to the teachings of the gospel. One day, he decided he wanted to be baptized."

Explaining his change of heart, Brother Mateo said: "I loved my family so much. The only way that I had to not lose my family was by getting closer to them, by being one with them, to follow them wherever they went. I had the desire to do it. I wanted to get to know the Church. I was an investigator for many years. My best testimony is my family. Without them, I knew I did not have a meaning for life. I saw the changes in my family, changes that made them better. I wanted to have that family forever. I felt the Spirit so strong, and had the desire to be baptized. From then until now, I have been very grateful that I gained a knowledge of the Church, that I have come to know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I gained all this through my family."

Daughter Cristina elaborated: "When he decided to be baptized, he left every single thing that he had before that tied him to the world. Things like alcohol or tobacco or the influence of bad friends — he left everything behind and started a new life with us, all together. Our family was sealed in the Frankfurt Germany Temple.

"Our father became a great missionary to people around him. Then he and my mother sent us on missions."

Tony, now 28, served in the Spain Seville Mission. Marilo, now 26, was called to the Spain Madrid Mission. Cristina, now 23, served in the England Birmingham Mission. Twins Mary Paz and Ramon, 22, are serving in the Spain Bilbao Mission. Ana Belen, 13, said that she looks forward to being a missionary, also.

"We all wanted to go on missions," Cristina said. "Marilo started going with the sister missionaries. When we were 12 and 13 years old, we were bearing our testimonies to investigators, to our friends. We saw the difference in our family and we wanted to share what we knew with others."

Marilo said, "We worked to be able to pay most of our expenses, even though we are a very humble family. We don't have much money, but we had help from our parents, our branch and our mission presidents. They were wonderful to us.

"Our Mama had a really hard childhood. Without the gospel, our own lives would have been very different. Cristina said that we would have had no life at all, really, without the gospel. As missionaries, we know that what we have is so important and it gives so much happiness to people. Definitely we know now, after being missionaries, that the Church is true, and that it is something to share. What we have here today is a miracle. I don't know if we will ever do enough to pay back Heavenly Father."

Sister Mateo said that it is hard to send sons and daughters away from home, but she does so because of her great desire to share the gospel. "To be able to let people know about the gospel, Heavenly Father needs mothers and fathers with courage to let their children go, and children with love and courage to go on missions," she said.

Brother and Sister Mateo like the Old Testament story of Hannah, who gave up her son Samuel for a period of time to serve the Lord. "We, also, have children we can send to serve the Lord," Brother Mateo said.

The parents, older siblings and Ana Belen traveled from their home near Spain's eastern coast by the Mediterranean Sea to attend the dedication of the Madrid Spain Temple, March 19-21, 1999. The twins' mission was assigned to attend the same day. Between sessions on that day, the entire family was together for the first time in five years. "And our reunion is at the temple, a house of the Lord! What could be better?" exclaimed Marilo.

"Today is complete," Sister Mateo said. "Today, I have received a gift from Heavenly Father that, for a few hours, all our family is together again."