Hey guys!
Thanks a lot for writing me last night instead of today so that I would have something in my inbox to read. This week is a little crazy because we have concilio but we also have 4 new Mexican elders that are going to be entering tomorrow supposedly, so they had to make today concilio and kill our pday. So I'm not complaining, it just means we have to write early and don't have as much time.
So, I'm going to get right down to it because I have some important stuff to write!!
This past Saturday we had a marriage and baptismal service. We really worked hard to make it the best and nicest event that we could and the Lord helped us out of course. We worked all day Saturday getting ready. We first went to make programs for the baptismal service and we made them really nice (like the kinds that you get when you go to church in the states haha). We printed all of those out and folded them and got those ready. After that we went to the store and bought white balloons and some decorative ribbons and paper and stuff like that, all white of course. We also had to go and buy an extension cord and an adapter from a music store in the center (I'll explain that later...). We ate lunch and ran over to the church and started decorating. We decorated and inflated balloons and the sister missionaries and a few other sisters from the branch were there helping us as well. Then our branch president came to help us get the tech stuff worked out. We were expecting a lot of people to show up to the baptismal service, so we knew that not everyone would be able to fit into the small room where the baptismal font is. SO, we borrowed a members video camera and hooked it up to the church's closed circuit system, hooked up a projector in the sacrament meeting room, and projected the baptisms onto the big screen there for all to see. (That's why we needed an extension cord and an adapter so that the camera would be able to reach into the baptismal font room.) I have to say that it was honestly a baptismal service better than most services in the states! Our branch president is really awesome so he helped us out a lot with all of that stuff. So, the marriage happened first around 5:15 of Danilo and Reina. We had a judge from the municipality of Salamá come and do the wedding for us (who strangely enough turned out to be the cousin of our branch president and about 5 other members in the branch haha..) We had a lot of members there to support us and it was a really nice little service.
Right after that we started getting ready for the baptism. In the meantime, we put up "Mormon Messages" in Spanish to keep the crowd from getting bored. We got all changed and everything and started taking pictures. It was really fun but people started to get bored so we had to cut the pictures short and get started. We started the service a little later than 6:15 and it was a really nice and spiritual service. Elder Lemus directed the meeting, I gave a talk about the Holy Ghost, and then we went to the baptismal font. I went down into the water first and baptized the sister's convert, Leticia. She kind of panicked when I put her under the water, partly because of the nerves and the other part was most likely mostly for how COLD the water was. After her, I baptized our convert, Danilo. Baptizing him was the best feeling I've felt in my whole mission. I just thought about the nearly 6 months that I've been working with him and the entire YEAR of investigating that he and his wife had been doing before they could finally get baptized. It was truly a miracle. After baptizing him, I baptized Meici, (AKA- Macy) who is a branch baptism because she is the daughter of members who just turned 8. After that I left and went to a little room where my comp and I had to change. It was awesome because I was able to watch the other baptisms as I changed because we put a tv in our changing room and hooked that up to the closed circuit as well. It was kind of funny though because my comp started baptizing Reina, the wife of Danilo, and I heard on the TV that he didn't say her whole name right. I hurried and zipped up my pants and tucked my shirt in and ran out in my flip-flops to tell him that he had to baptize her again haha. After my companion baptized her, he baptized Marta, our other convert, and 2 other branch baptisms that were 8 year old kids. All in all we baptized 7 children of our Heavenly Father and the Spirit was felt strongly. I've never been happier in my whole life! It is the best feeling in the world to baptize a family and to know that they are going to someday be sealed in the temple and be an eternal family. I hope maybe I can come back for their sealing!! After that we all went back to the main room where Danilo and Reina bore their testimonies and our branch president gave the welcome to all of the recently
baptized.
Sunday we spent probably about 30 minutes just in confirming all of the people that got baptized and 2 baby blessings. We were fasting to give thanks to the Lord for the miracles that he was providing for us. Then, another miracle happened when suddenly a family of 3 showed up for the first time at church and said that they had met with the missionaries twice in the capital before moving to Salama. They liked the church and said they were coming back next week. We also had 12 investigators in the marriage and baptismal service and they said they all liked it a lot. We're hoping that they will all have fechas this week and the next. The work is rolling on and filling all of Salama just like it is doing in all of the world. All it takes is faith and trust in the Lord for miracles to happen. Thank you so much for all of your prayers on behalf of our investigators. I really appreciate it and I know that it is partly because of your faith too that we were able to do this. Please keep praying for our other investigators: Bonifacio and his wife, Ana María; Roselia and her 4 kids; Erick and Rosa; and Ana.
I don't have too much time left to write. I'm not sure if my package came yet or not but I hope so. Sorry to hear that you are sick mom, but I hope you feel better for your BIRTHDAY this Saturday!!!!!!!!
I will write you a personal letter next Monday when I have more time, but just know that I'll be thinking about you and praying for you to have a good day. You're the best mom ever! :) Glad that the Giants won because of my inherited hatred that I have for the Patriots haha. Today I'm going to talk to President about you guys wanting to come and pick me up. Apparently I've heard from some other elders that he's not a big fan of touring and stuff still as a missionary. So we'll have to see what happens. I'll let you know next week. I'll know if I have a change or not by next week. I am COMPLETELY divided about what I want. I really want to stay in Salama because there is still a lot of work to do, but at the same time I REALLY want to go back to Polochik. So whatever the Lord wants will happen. I love you all tons and thank you so much for all you do. Love you!!!!
Love,
Elder Norton
No comments:
Post a Comment