So this week Victoria Ortega was baptized. It was a great service, the
Hermanas had a baptism as well so two people were baptized. It was great her
nephew was able to come and baptize her. I always think it's better when family
members or members of the ward baptize and confirm people into the church. Us
missionaries move and leave. We may get forgotten as time goes on. But the
members and family members of these converts will stay with them and help them
persevere till the end. Being in a fairly populated area of California that's
very civilized I'm not sure I'll have an experience like Dad's of random people
showing up to a lesson asking for Books of Mormon. But I have had experiences
where people have either testified or have felt God's Love for the first time or
in a very long time. At the beginning of the baptismal service Hno Flor shared
his testimony of missionary work and about how we are like these people's Angel
Moroni. He said that "When the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in his
bedroom after the Savior and Heveanly Father, he showed him what he needed to do
to comply with what the Savior asked him to do. He provided the way. He said
that the missionaries that taught you (The Investigator) are like your Angel
Moroni. Moroni didn't appear at your bedside, but these missionaries knocked on
your door, talked to you in the street, or called you on the phone. We are the
ones that helped these people comply with God's commandments. That was something
that really put things in perspective for me as a missionary. It's different in
these hispanic Wards because 99% of the members are all converts or 1st
generation pioneers for their posterity. Everytime I hear the testimony of a
Member who found out about the gospel through the missionaries, it helps my
testimony because that is what I'm doing right now, with the help of the Savior.
Now on the opposite end of things you heard about the family that couldn't meet
with us anymore because they were going to go through a divorce. Both Elder
Dowda and I were shocked by the news because when we saw them read 1 Nephi 1
with us for the first time we knew that they had a spiritual manifestation
telling them that it was true. But because of the adversary and previous
circumstances I assume, they haven't met with us since she told us about the
incident. I could tell through her tears that she really knew the gospel was
true, but she let things get in her way and now doesn't want us to stop by
anymore. The gospel does change lives, that's why the adversary goes through so
much to stop people from hearing about it or receiving it. I'm thankful for
having remained faithful to the gospel and deciding to serve a mission so I can
do the best I can to help people receive these blessings. As far as other things
that happened this week we had a zone review and President Kendrick has
announced the next 3 weeks as a Jubilee period. Meaning that we are all going to
try our best to be the best we can be and look for specific ways of receiving
blessings from the Savior. As far as answering your questions, I haven't
performed any baptisms yet nor confirmations. I've participated in tons of
confirmations and have given many blessings in English and Spanish to members
and missionaries. We don't just give out too many Books of Mormon here. We did
in my first area but I quickly realized that people here aren't very caring of
the material we hand out. So it's better in my opinion if we just carry around a
copy in English and Spanish and just give out the cards like candy. Better it's
saved for someone who really needs it here in Richy Rich California. Now if I
was in Tijuana I'd be handing out LdM's like crazy and we'd be getting return
appointments like no ones buisiness but a las the life of a Stateside
missionary! The trash panda picture was just something funny we saw. Well hope
you all have a great week! Les quiero!
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