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| With Anais, Roger, and Obispo Gallardo |
Wow. There are weeks of feast, and there are weeks of famine. And then there are weeks that are just plain AWESOME. This was one of those weeks. I don't have nearly enough time to write about all of the miracles that took place, so I'm just going to highlight a few--you can all get by knowing that Heavenly Father was working overtime in our lives this week. For that, I am so grateful.
We had intercambios on Tuesday, which was a lot of fun; I had the opportunity to work with Hna. Lopez (de Perú), and we had a great day. I enjoy intercambios--they're always a great opportunity to learn and improve. We also had Zone Meeting on Wednesday--Mom! I got your package AND your DearElder; thank you SO much. :D Completely made my day! I love you! Entrevistas con Presidente on Friday were great; fifteen minutes is SO short, but it was really great to be able to counsel with him and feel again the witness of the Spirit testifying to my heart that he truly is called of God to preside over this mission. Presidente and Hermana Kähnlein are such examples to me, and I really do love them both so much. To top off an already awesome week, we had stake conference on Saturday night and Sunday morning! As it always happens, the Saturday night Adult session was absolutely INCREDIBLE; I took tons of notes in Spanglish and learned SO much. Nancy and Victor came with us on Saturday and loved it, too. (We had 7 investigators with us in the Sunday session, which was SO awesome. They all really enjoyed it! And speaking of investigators...I don't have time to go into all the details or give bios of all of them this week, but just so you all know, we committed FOUR people to baptism this week for the 9th of November. So, Dad, Happy Birthday to You! November 9th! Please pray for Paula y Rodrigo, Chris, y Gloria, please, that everything can go well so that we can help them to make it to their baptisms. :))
Okay, the biggest order of business—since I know you're all anxiously waiting...the BAPTISM. So pretty much...Okay. Vamos. After a week of awesome lessons with Roger and Anais (A demonstration of how to have a Noche de Hogar, reading the Book of Mormon and helping Roger learn to receive personal revelation in his study, a lesson about testimony and our own personal testimony meeting)--and they got increasingly excited with every passing day (Anais could hardly wait by the time Saturday night arrived; she was counting down like I always used to for Christmas), we sat with them at Stake Conference and then headed over to the church with a few other investigators to get everything ready for the big moment. :)
The baptism started right on time, and the program was great, but when we walked into the pila and I saw Roger come down the steps into the clean water in his clean, white clothes, the Spirit hit me so hard—I started bawling and couldn't stop. I have never, ever felt that way before. "No hay gozo así," I remember thinking. I watched through tears as Obispo Gallardo baptized Roger, then Anais, and wow...I can't even describe it. They weren't kidding when they said, "How great shall be your joy in the kingdom of Heaven." How great shall be your joy here on earth, too. Watching two people that I love with all of my heart--who I had the privilege to help find and teach--come up completely clean and pure out of that water... Yeah. There are no words.
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| Roger and Anais before their baptism |
Nancy and Victor were able to attend the baptism together with their son, Diego, and they both cried through Roger and Anais' testimonies—it was wonderful to be able to talk with them afterward and hear them express their sentimientos sobre lo que había experientado. Nancy and Victor want so badly to be baptized...they are, now, truly converted and are anxiously awaiting the day that they can finally make this precious convenio con Dios and receive all the blessings that He has in store for them. I love them so much.
The absolute best part of all, though, was that Anais' mom, who isn't a member, came to the baptism to support her daughter and ended up feeling something absolutely incredible as well—something that she had never been able to find in any of the other churches she's investigated before. She was able to talk with quite a few members after the baptism and then with us--we gave her a Book of Mormon, and she accepted our invitation to read Alma 32 and pray to know if it's true. She says she feels something in the capilla that she loves and that she's going to start coming to church and to our lessons with Roger and Anais (side note: Roger and Anais' mom are separated, and she has since remarried and has two more kids) Wow. Talk about a miracle!
When we locked up the church to go back to our homes, Anais and Roger were absolutely GLOWING; I felt cleaner even just being around them. I don't remember much about my own baptism, but the opportunity to see the cleansing power of this special ordinance in the lives of two people that I love so dearly is a privilege I will forever be grateful for. I know without a doubt that this church is true, and that within it are found the priesthood keys that the Savior gave to His apostles in the church that He Himself established cuando estuvo aquí en la tierra. I know not only that He guides His church today through a living prophet, but also that He works miracles in our lives and will continue to do so every day if we will let Him. I love my Savior with all my heart, and I am so grateful for the opportunity He has given me to serve Him and His children here in Chile--to truly experience a fullness of joy in this life and to lay up treasures for me and my family in Heaven.
I hope you all have a wonderful week, that you pray to be able to recognize the hand of the Lord in your life, and that you keep reading the Book of Mormon! Siga luchando y escogiendo El Salvador, porque we know who's going to win in the end.:) Le quiero muchisimo! Hasta la proxima semana!:)
Con Todo Mi Amor,
Hermana Sanford
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