April 18, 2011

First Baptism R with Plummer/Knapp

Reconnecting with MTC comps

Hna Gonzales and Lavaka

hola familia, i am sending pictures of the baptism. woohoo. so amazing. R is the tall and skinny white one, the viejita next to him is his mom who wil be baptsized soon. she just doesnt know it yet. the dark muchacho is M, a member who just got home from his mission a few weeks ago and has helped us out so much with R the past few weeks. then there is me and and then hermana knapp. we are in front of the chapel. this was on saturday and then his confirmation was on sunday during sacrament meeting.
oh before i forget, you dont need to send weird garlic pills. i think we are fine. dengue is quite rampant right now, but we use repellant everyday. a few people have died, but don't worry. and no we don't share the ward with other elders. we share the chapel, but there is a branch that meets separately. we only walk a few blocks to the chapel.
anyways, R has had a really rough life. he is 49 years old, was married but not anymore and has 2 kids, but we don't know anything about them. and right now lives with his brother and mom to take care or her because she is in a wheelchair. she is so cute, and so evangelical, but already says she likes our church better than hers.  she has come to church twice now, and was so emotional at the baptism. david cañete picks her up to bring her to church. well, tuesday he called us and told us he didnt feel like he wanted to be baptized anymore. he has had some major problems and said he was going to move back to his house in the interior. i cant really go into detail, but it was really bad and i cried. but we met with him on wednesday and he decided to stay so he can be baptized here. then on friday night before the baptizm he basically got jumped by guys who tried to steal his cellular. so much opposition, but all was well in the end and he was baptized and is so happy now and has worked out his problems. the power of God always overpowers the attempts of Satan. i can't even describe the happiness i felt at his baptism and to see how happy he is after such a difficult road to find happiness and peace. this work gives you a feeling like nothing else in the world, and is so incredible.
on another note, one miracle slash funny experience of the week was when we were teaching these 3 women for the second time. the first time we invited them to be baptized, and they accepted and the second time we finish teaching the restoration and then one of them says, ummm, i have to tell you, we are members. we were like, of our church? yup. but they have been inactive for a long time. a really long time. one of them isn't a member and is way interested, but all of them felt the spirit and was really incredible. they said they know the church is true but she doesn't want to come back to church until the bishop is changed because they are related to the bishop and she doesnt want an interview with a relative. but we invited them to church anyways and i really feel like she is ready to come back to church. it is going to be hard after such a long time, but she felt comforted that we are here to help her. at the end, we went into the house for a kneeling prayer (so much more powerful than sitting). we invited her to say the prayer and didn't want to at first but accepted. her prayer was so tender and heartfelt as tears streamed down her someone is ready to let him into their life. it is not by coincidence that we found them. we almost didn't pass by because after the first lesson we passed by tons of times and they weren't there and we were going to pass by one more time when we finally found them again. i am learning to see the miracle of how heavenly father works, and it is such a blessing to be apart of it. well, i have to go. i hope everything is going well on the homefront. i miss you all so much, but i am reminded everyday how little is my sacrifice Jesus Christ.
oh and here is a phrase for this week mom, se que la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de los ulitmos dias es la unica iglesia verdadera sobre la faz de la tierra
love,
hermana plummer