Suffer with Patience - 08/20/12

So the title comes from Alma 31, verses 30 and 31. I really like how he prays for strength to suffer with patience. I had a couple of opportunities this week to do just that.

This week was really, really, really good. It was also really hard. But, I´m learning how those two characteristics are intertwined. Its pretty cool, and even though it sounds crazy, I know it's true.

So to start things off, this week we had a baptism! We baptized Familia Amador! They are the family that we married last week, and they are some of my favorite investigators. She wasn´t too excited about baptism, but on Monday we had a really cool lesson. She amazes me on her spiritual progress. We started teaching Lesson 3, the Doctrine of Christ, and before the lesson I gave her an outline of what we were going to teach and also the promise that she will know when she should be baptized. So we get to Faith, ya know, first principle, and we explain what Faith is and how we have to show our faith with our works. She then asked us ¨So I have to show my faith in Jesus by getting baptized?´ I was shocked and amazed that she made that connection without us telling her. I was a little stunned that she understood where we were trying to go. So we said "Yes" and she agreed to be baptized. Yup, it was that easy. She understands things really fast, which is such a blessing.

Her husband was a less active, but he´s been going to church and supporting us in the lessons.  It was probably one of the most beautiful moments of my mission when I watched him baptize his wife. We helped save a family, but the cool and amazing part is that they are doing the work for themselves. He helps explain the gospel to his wife, and they read and pray together. She is expecting any day, and they have 2 small children, and I know that they will be faithful and active members inside the church. I love this work

I also managed to catch the same sickness my companion had. The good part is that I skipped out on the vomiting, but the sinus pressure hit me pretty hard. Its hard to smile and be happy when you feel like your brain is going to explode and that your eyes are going to pop out of your head. It was a little hard.

A lot of our investigators are really progressing rapidly. The only problem is that everyone is scared of baptism, and on Sunday almost everyone skipped out on us. But, they really did show lots of improvement in their daily reading and praying, as well as their testimonies. We had a couple of lessons where we brought the investigators to tears, which is generally a good sign that we are doing something right.

I had my first official intercambios (splits) as a DL, and it was pretty cool. This Saturday I´ll be doing my first Baptismal Interview. Wish me luck!

I love all you guys. Be sure to have tons of fun for me at the lake and at the reception.

Elder Hansen