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| William's family at his baptism |
Anyway, this week I learned a ton. I have been studying a ton in the Book of Mormon lately about the promises that are found in it, and this week I read almost the whole book of Alma. It is one of my favorite books and I read about Ammon and the success he had as he served the king. I wanted to apply that more in my missionary work and serve others even more. So, we are teaching Jose, who is a 14 year old and his cousins and aunts and uncles are converts in the church about 2 years ago and we are teaching him and he is getting ready for baptism, but his mom kinda never gave us the time of day and said that he isn't ready for baptism yet. So one day this week when we were teaching him, I saw his mom out back cleaning up trash. Something that is funny here is that people really don't believe in having trash cans, they just throw all their trash on the ground, and once every 2 weeks or so decide to clean it all up and burn it. So we started to help her pick up her trash and we actually did it all for her so that she could rest. After that she opened up to us a bit about her relationship with her husband and how she has problems and I really felt that she realized that our message is only good, and she mentioned that anything is better than her kid getting in problems like drinking or drugs. I truly felt the power of service.
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| When the branch has a pool party...and you can't get in... |
When i was here in Calkini last year we were teaching a kid named Alexis who went to church many times and his parents were members but super inactive and were starting to go to church again. When I left Calkini I never heard from them again and this past week I went four days straight trying to find him because I really felt the need to find him. On Friday we finally found him walking on the street, and I asked him how his parents were and he told me that his dad died about 3 months ago from drinking too much. I was just in shock. I can't believe how many things can happen to people in such a short amount of time. I really felt the need to be able to visit him again and help him feel this love from God so that he doesn't go down the same paths. This week we have an appointment with him again :)
Also a side note, an 18 year old named Andrea that I contacted with our ward mission leader in my old area, Arboleda, got baptized this week! It made me so happy to know :)
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| William and his brother Angel |
So this whole week we had the biggest goal and focus to help William get baptized. The biggest problem with him had been his parents. His mom was super on board but his dad isn't a member and was kinda against the idea. We were praying for him all week so that he would let his son get baptized and when it was all said and done, our prayers were answered :) This week we had the amazing opportunity to baptize William. I have never seen a little kid so converted to the gospel. He asked me to baptize him and it was a pleasure to do so. We gave him a little clip on tie that cost $50 pesos and when we gave it to him, the happiness in his eyes was so big and he just gave us the biggest hug and said that he would now be able to be like us, and be a missionary one day. This is the 5th week in a row that we have had a baptism here in Calkini. What I can testify is that I know that the Lord prepares people to be baptized at the right time in their lives whenever they can accept the gospel and apply it more than anything. I feel a lot like Ammon, glorifying myself in the Lord.
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| William |
On Sunday morning we had 2 confirmations, Johann and William. I had the opportunity to confirm Johann and honestly the Spirit is amazing, the way it leads me in every moment. Then yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and William wanted to bare his testimony. So he got up and bore his testimony in front of everyone and said something like this as part of it "i know that if parents don't teach their kids what they should do, that their sins will fall on their heads, also i know this church is true because I prayed to God and felt that it is true and knew that I should be baptized. I am so happy and will be a missionary one day." Then after the meeting he comes to us with his little 5 pesitos and tells us he wants to pay his tithing. Never have i seen a little kid pay tithing here, but William understands the doctrine and is applying it at an early age!! What a blessing.
So now that I have about 3.5 months left in the mission, honestly a lot of people start joking and say that I am "dying" because I'm going home so soon. But something that I really loved yesterday is that the Relief Society president told me this. "Elder you don't seem tired yet! Most of the missionaries that come here and are going home soon are always so tired and don't do anything!" It was actually a huge complement! But honestly physically speaking i feel like I get tired faster, but it is just a matter of will power. I know that this church is true and I invite everyone of you to think about how Jesus Christ lets you have peace in your life! Have a great Easter.
Elder Plowman
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