June 17, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

This last weekend was crazy!  Tons of highs and lows, but I would take those lows any day if we could have those kinds of highs to go along with them!

Saturday we had a Spanish Zone Conference down in Beaver (about 1 hr 45 minutes away, ish).  All the Spanish speaking missionaries in the mission were asked to go, along with all of the Daily Dose missionaries (those are the senior missionaries called to teach English to Hispanic people).  They said it would be over after 2, so we scheduled Ra....'s baptism for 5 pm.

The Rh......s' (the couple that we live with, who do daily dose) gave us a ride to the conference, but about an hour out their car overheated and we had to pull over to the side of the road.  Brother Rh......'s did stuff with the engine (I wouldn't be able to say what), involving putting water somewhere and oil somewhere else.  Our district leader drove by and saw that it was us, so they stopped to help.  Eventually it was decided that the Rh.....s' would have to take their car back to Centerfield and miss the conference, so we called and got permission for the Elders' ride to take us the rest of the way (we had to get permission because it was just a man driving them, his wife wasn't there).

So we get to the Conferenece and it all went well..... and then we realized that we didn't have a ride home.  The conference ended around 2:30 (we were super stressing by this point), and we ended up getting a ride to Richfield with the Ow.....s' (our daily dose couple in our Elsinore branch), and then a ride to Centerfield from there with someone else.

When we were about to get to Richfield, we realized that we had left the keys in the elders' ride's car.  So we had to call them and ask them to meet us in Richfield (we kinda needed those!).  By the time we got to Centerfield, it was about 15 minutes before the baptism was supposed to start, so we had them drive us directly to the Gunnison Stake Center where Ra.....'s baptism was going to be.

When we got there, the only people there were the Gunnison elders, who had filled up the font and set up chairs for us.  After a few minutes, others started trickling in, including Ra..... However, Wy...... was not there, and he was the one who was going to baptize him!  We call Wy...... and he says, "Oh, I thought it was at 6!  I'm in Nephi right now!"  Ohhhh gosh, so we told him we would stall while he sped back down to Gunnison.

We just had prelude playing, but we let everyone know that we were just waiting for a few minutes.  Wy..... got there around 5:20 (yeah, he did some major speeding there), but without a change of clothes, towel, or anything..... but we let him worry about that.  He changed into a baptismal jumpsuit really quick and we took some pictures in front of the font, and the baptismal program began.

The baptism itself was amazing.  Tons of people were there (I would guess like 40), including several nonmembers and some friends of Ra....'s who had come down from Provo and Orem to see the baptism.  Before the baptism started, Ra.... said to me, "I have felt the Spirit so strongly with me today, since the moment I woke up.  It's been almost overwhelming.  Even my mom told me that she could feel it when I was with her."  He was glowing with happiness and excitement to be baptized.  I'm pretty sure anyone within a mile radius of him could feel the Spirit that was emanating from him.

The two talks were fantastic--they were given by friends of Ra.... from Orem, who were both RM's and I'm pretty sure they work at the MTC.  Also, for the special musical number, one of them played the piano while the other sang with a girlfriend of Ra....'s that had come down from Orem as well.  It was amazing.

After Wy..... said the baptismal prayer (in Spanish), Ra.... went down into the water as if he couldn't get there fast enough.  He is so amazing!

After the baptism, everyone stayed and ate food (people had brought tons of food!).  It was so nice to just stay and enjoy the Spirit that was there, and it was a great environment to talk to some of the nonmembers that had come.

The next day, Sunday, Ra.... got confirmed and received the Holy Ghost, and then while he was still up there, President Ga.... (branch president) presented him to the congregation and then ordained him a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood.  Following that, Ra..... blessed the Sacrament for the first time.  YES, you read that right.  President Ga.... interviewed him to receive the Priesthood, and to get a temple recommend, before church and Ra..... was able to bless the Sacrament the day he was confirmed.  How amazing is this man?!! 

We are planning to go to the Manti temple with him this Saturday to do baptisms for the dead.  He already has the names and info so that he can be baptized for both of his grandfathers.

His mother, who is catholic, attended both the baptism and all three hours of church yesterday.  The work is just beginning in this family!

It was such a great weekend!

Hope you all had a great Father's day :)

Much Love,

Hermana Burner