With the Ten Commandments
Us with Andre. We learned a lot from him this week.
Baptism! (L to R) Heron (performed the baptism), me, Jonas (who was baptized),
my comp, and Sergio (ward mission leader)
The Weeks are going by really quickly. It's rather amazing. Anyway, We baptized this week! Got really nervous for a few times with Jonas, but everything worked out all right.
So on Friday night we were needing to talk to Jonas. We had planned to go by his house later that night. But we got a call from him saying that he was waiting there for us to come by and teach him. (Jonas is a really cool guy, but his family is super against us like I said.) I was worried because his baptism was marked for Sunday, and we still had to teach him all of the commandments. We were praying that he didn't have any problems. We got there and he was waiting for us. We taught him all of the commandments in the same night, and talked about baptism, Holy Ghost and endure to the end. We were there for almost an hour and a half. But thankfully he didn't have any problems. Saturday morning, he was interviewed and passed! Phew! But then that night when we went by there to help him with whatever doubts or problems or questions that he had. When we got there at the time that we marked, someone from his house was outside yelling and swearing at him telling him that he had to decide if he was going to stay on his mom's side or if he would go to the other side. Telling him that he had to make a choice. He told us to leave and he'd get back to us later. We were really worried. We started going to our next investigator's house when we decided to pray. We took turns praying and asking that Jonas would be able to make the right choice and not falter. About 30 minutes later, we got a call from Jonas, and we planned to meet him at the church. We got there and he was waiting for us. We talked to him and he was firm in his decision to be baptized. I don't know what he worked out there, but he said that he was going to be baptized. We talked to him a bit and then let him go.
Sunday was hectic. The time changed and we forgot. We were leaving our house at 8 to go and get investigators, when we got a call from the other elders saying that church already started. We got to church at about 9:20, and Jonas was there already. We got through the first hour until I remembered that we hadn't filled the font yet. Yikes. So we got on that. I left with another elder to go get one of our investigators before sacrament meeting. He came. After sacrament meeting was even more hectic. We had to prepare a baptismal service, I had to take care of our other investigator, a sister was wanting us to come with her to give a blessing to her aunt, and more. Lost in the confusion, my companion let Jonas go alone to go get a towel. That was also worrisome. A lot of the members were saying that he wouldn't come back. But after a long 20 minutes of waiting, he came back. And was baptized. Awesome. So rewarding. What was really cool is that he really came out a new person. At church he was just wearing a normal shirt, but when he came out of the bathroom after the baptism he had a white shirt and tie and everything! Really great. It's just a great feeling to see the people that you love and worry about so much make the right decision. =)
This week we started talking to a kid named Orlando. He is really good. Monday night we had nothing to do. All of our appointments fell. I thought of a guy we had talked to but I didn't remember exactly his address. I knew kinda where it was. We went close and started knocking. The gate next to where we were opened there were two guys sitting there and I went and talked to them. I asked them if they knew where this contact lived. He gave us information and I asked if we could share a message with them. They let us in. We met and taught Orlando, who is 20, and Felipe who is 16. We taught a great first lesson, and then I explained a little about baptism and invited them to be baptized. And they accepted. It was really great. When we listen to the Spirit, when we don't give up, the Lord blesses us. He blessed us with these two investigators, a spiritual lesson, and people willing to learn and to progress. The next time we went there we taught Orlando about the Book of Mormon, and he promised to read and pray. We had trouble talking to him the rest of the week because of his friends, but Sunday we showed up, and he came to church with us. Later that night he said that he had read, but didn't understand very well, and that he prayed and felt good. We taught him the Word of Wisdom because we knew he was going to have problems with this. He accepted to keep the commandment, and we set goals with him to help him stop. I really hope that he decides to progress.
Sunday we also talked with two less actives, whom I really like, I think they are great guys, and I learned a lot from them. We talked about a lot of things and I learned things that I can do to help. I learned a lot about the importance of Service, charity and being able to listen to the needs of others, especially when you are in a position of leadership.
I'm grateful for the experiences that I've gained on the mission. I feel like I could have done so much better. A while ago I felt like I hadn't learned all that much on the mission, But I've reflected and thought about the lessons that I have learned, and they are many. I know that I still have more that I can learn.
Thanks for everything mom and dad. I love you and I'm grateful for all the things that you have taught me, that you have taught me to choose the right, and that you helped me to get here on the mission. Probably the best thing you have done for my life. =) I cannot express the gratitude that I have. I am looking forward to the months at home to spend with the family before going away to college again. Love you all!
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