"Counting On" star Jill Duggar Dillard and her husband, Derick, have returned to the United States and attended church on Sunday just days after revealing a friend was tragically kidnapped and murdered in Central America.
"So grateful to be back in the States and get to go to our church this morning @crosschurch #Israeliswithgrandma #lovetheUSA," the pregnant 26-year-old captioned a selfie with her 28-year-old husband.
The former "19 Kids and Counting" star revealed she was headed back to Central America with Derick and their 2-year-old son Israel back in February. The family's return is ahead of Jill's July due date, when she will welcome the couple's second child - another boy.
In a blog post published last month, Jill shared a brief pregnancy update: "The pregnancy is going well thus far, as we make it into the home stretch now," she wrote. "'Little Samuelito' (as the locals call him) sometimes wakes mommy up at night now with his active kicking."
In another blog post shared on Monday, Jill revealed a friend was tragically kidnapped and murdered in Central America: "We received a phone call on Monday from a friend here in Central America informing us that one of our other good friends (a fellow Christian) had been murdered the day before and that his family had found his body down by the river earlier that morning!"
"As you'll recall from our last email, we talked about these friends of ours who we'd had the opportunity to invite into the hospitality house for a meal recently as they have been going through a really tough time after the death of his grandmother and murder of his 20 year old cousin and then the stroke his daughter had when she received the news.
"Now they have been spending most of the time in their home for fear of being kidnapped or killed as violence has escalated in their area.
"Even though we had spoke with our friend and his family about the realities of the dangers here, and especially in their area right now, we were shocked when we learned of his kidnap and murder.
"We've had them into our home three times in the past couple weeks!"
In the post, the couple wrote that their most recent mission work - which included providing various skills training for adults and Bible study in villages hit by violence - was ending.
"We will only be here a little while longer, before we return to the States to prepare for the birth of our second little one, so please also continue to pray for God's strength and grace to carry on with responsibilities and make the most of the short time left here before our return," the couple wrote.
She added in the post of the funeral proceedings: 'After our regular church service last night, Derick was able to attend the funeral service with some people from church while Israel and I (Jill) stayed back at the house.
"Typically funerals are held in a family member's home and last several hours into the night. Our friend's funeral was held in their area and Derick and some men from church were able to share some words of encouragement with the family and guests. We have cried and continue to grieve the loss of our dear friend."
"Counting On", the Duggar family's show, will return to TLC on Monday, June 12 at 9/8c.
