April 1, 2013

 

Hola familia y amigos!

 

This week was so amazing! Transfers first though-- I am going to Axtell Spanish (PURE Spanish, so no more English for me!), which I believe covers Richfield Spanish as well.  My companion is Hermana Hernandez who is from Honduras and served here in Huntington as well : ) My Spanish is going to be improving for sure!  Please pray that I don't get too stressed out lol.

 

The beginning of this last week, we had Da.... and Li.... both on date for Saturday.  Li..... was doing great-- we finished teaching her all of the lessons early, and had a couple extra lessons-- Lehi's Dream, and we had a whole lesson on the Law of Chastity (we thought that a whole lesson on that would be helpful...she lives with her mother and her mother's "roommate").  Da....., however, kept having to push back lessons becuase she helps her madre make tamales to sell, so we were behind on teaching her everything she needed to know before baptism.  Before our lesson with her on Tuesday, she texted us to say that she wouldn't be able to meet with us that day.  We asked her why (If there was anything she needed help with), and she said she just "needed time to think things over."  Scary!! We finally went by and talked to her on Thursday (two days before the baptism!!), and she told us how her aunt had told her that she should really think over her baptism because Mormons worship someone name Jose (I think she meant Joseph Smith).  Da.... told us that she had been praying a lot, and during the night she just could not stop thinking about the Gospel, and how she knew that is was true.  TENDER MERCY!!

 

The day of the baptism came (Da.... and Li..... are in the same ward, so we did a double baptism), and we got there to find about a million people waiting in the foyer....I guess all of Li....'s extended family decided to come from Salt Lake for the baptism! Ju.... (Li.....'s mom's "roommate", who is a less active member) came up to us a little frantic, saying that the people from the last baptism, who were supposed to leave the water in the font, had drained it.  Yikes! Sister Kim and I ran down to investigate, and it turns out that they had remembered halfway through and had stopped draining.  We got Brother Fe..........., the Ward Mission Leader, to be in charge of refilling it... which we had to do slowly throughout the first part of the baptism, so that it would be warm enough.  Crazy!

 

Da.....'s friend, who was supposed to do the talk on the Holy Ghost, didn't show up (everyone here drops everything and goes camping in the desert for Easter) so Sister Kim and I got to fill in.  That ended up being perfect though because a lot of Li.....'s family doesn't speak English very well, and I spoke in Spanish so that they could understand.  My first spur of the moment talk in a foreign language!  Haha it went great though.

 

So overall, our little "Flower Baptism"  for Li..... and Da..... went well! And they were both confirmed on Easter Sunday.  How special is that? It was an amazing weekend : )

 

I'm really sad to be leaving this area.  It is just starting to bloom-- we have several investigators that we just started teaching, who we can put on date for April and May.  And I finally know my way around, and everyone knows who I am...it's kind of fun to be the companion that everyone recognizes and talks to as if they know everything about the area.  But that's okay.  Maybe Axtell will begin to bloom as well once I get there! Last time I heard from the sisters there, they only had one or two investigators.  But I have faith and I know that miracles happen! It is going to be great.

 

I hope you all had an amazing Easter, and took some time t think about our Savior and everything that He did for us!  I love you all so much!

 

Love,

Hermana Burner