The Gonzalez family did get baptized this week. It was awesome. They are so happy. I am so happy and I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are even more so. It was a grand occasion. It didn’t come without difficulties though as usual. We talked with our ward mission leader and he said he was going to take care of the font and set up everything for the baptism starting at 2:00. I have learned from past experiences that we must always check on things at the church and so on Saturday we went by the church to find it empty. The font takes three hours to fill up and the baptism was at 5:30. If we didn’t start soon, it wouldn’t be full by the time everyone got there. Another thing... we didn’t have keys to open the doors to start the water to the font OR a cell phone. We waited... and waited. At 2:30 I was freaking out and we were searching everything we could and discovered a way to open the front doors in front of the font so that everyone could watch (if you know what I’m talking about). We threw a chair in there, I hoisted my comp in and she cleaned out the font and got the water started. It was quite the adventure and we were laughing until our ward mission leader got mad at us for "doing things wrong." Whatever. We got things done. After that, it was the least stressful baptism I’ve had here. They all filed in the water and it was awesome. At the end, Fernando and Mabel (mom and dad) bore their testimonies. It was awesome. They were confirmed yesterday without flaw as well. The hermano that gave us this reference is now working with another family he works with. He’s going to hand us over the reference, a family of six, hopefully this week. Wahoo for families! Hermana Barreto gave a talk and congratulated us, my comp and I, and said what a great privilege it was to bring souls to Christ. I got an overwhelming feeling of the sacredness of my calling. And I don’t want to leave it. I love teaching the gospel.
We had a little bit of drama with Agustin and Jessica. They were discouraged with their situation. Plus, it got cold this week. And I mean cold, out of nowhere. The afternoon is okay, but the mornings and nights are frigid. This whole time I was thinking of them and their situation (living in a tent). They are discouraged about not having a place to live. They have nothing and jobs are few here. They expressed all their frustrations to us and I felt so burdened and overwhelmed by what was going on. A huge frog crawled in my throat and wouldn’t leave and it was all I could do to hold back the tears. We coordinated the next morning to pass by and talk with them and I left feeling so down. All I could think about was them and how I could help. I want to give them everything in the world: a home, food, a job, and whatever else, but I was overcome with helplessness. I prayed for them and studied for them the next morning. You’ll be happy to know I found the perfect scripture to share with them. It came to me the second I opened my scriptures. It was the first thing I read. We decided to share it with them that morning so we went by and I asked if they were doing any better. The fact that a bitter wind was blowing didn’t help the situation. They laughed and said a dog had come by and eaten all the food they had, someone stole something of theirs that was outside, they slipped the only tidbit of oil they had left on their tent which burnt a hole in it and landed on Jessica’s leg and burned her as well. Awesome, I thought. We started with a song because I honestly didn’t have the words to comfort them. We sang... "All is Well" (is that what it’s called in English? I’m not sure anymore) haha. Anyway, I started out just telling them how horrible I felt. I told them of my desire to help, but I can’t do anything, and the tears started flowing... I said I wish I could give you the world, all the physical things you need but really you have the greatest gift you could ever hope for: the gospel. I told them I was praying and studying and shared the things I had found for them. We read the scripture and it brought them to tears as well. I told them whatever else… I don’t remember, but the spirit was there and I think it helped. My comp didn’t say much, even when I gave her the opportunity. I asked Agustin if he was going to give his talk at the baptism that he had committed to give and he said no. I said fine, but you should at least go to the baptism to feel of the spirit, to remember your baptism and to support them. We talked some more and I felt the need to continue pushing for him to give his talk. Jessica, being the strong woman she is, said that they would go and they would prepare the talk. By the time we left they were excited about it. I will say he did awesome. I was really impressed. They are doing better now.
Other than that, things have been good. I’m excited for things to come. We don’t have many investigators at the moment but we are expecting lots of references from families and there is no doubt in my mind as we continue being obedient, we will continue to find those who are prepared to accept the gospel. I look forward to finding them. The mission just keeps getting better and better with the work.
I love you all more than ever. You’re in my prayers and thoughts constantly. The church is true. There’s no other. Until next week. Love, Ash
P.S. We have a fireplace... it’s small and doesn’t put out much heat, but it’s a fireplace!
P.P.S. I hate the cold, but sadly it’s better than the summer heat as a missionary. Luckily, I don’t have to deal with it that much longer!!
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