March 9, 1015 email "True at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted"

Tortillas: 20

Hello beloved family and friends! Life here in the city is very different from life in Santa Ana Huista. The work is harder and easier in different aspects. Harder because most people don't have time and are not nearly as nice as the people form Santa Ana. Easier because we have an amazing support system from the ward who is more than willing to help, but still a lot of the members don't have a ton of time. Much of our time is talking with whoever we can find, but usually that does not lead to people who are really interested in the gospel. We rely a lot on the help of members to find investigators who are serious about the gospel, but usually they can only meet once a week. This week we had a surprise baptism of Alejando, I will explain because it is this weeks miracle.

 Also, our investigator Ruben, the man who we found because his drunk friend called us when we were walking down the street, has a baptismal date goal for the 28th of March! He has a true desire to change his life, and everything that we have taught has really interested. We showed him a video this week about how the hearts of men in todays world need the gospel and it really touched him.

Mejor Milagro:

So, Saturday was really crazy. Friday we were doing divisions with our District Leader, and on Saturday Elder Trufiño (Our district leader) and I were starting our study, when we receive a call from our Zone Leader Elder Jackson. He said that President Smith had the feeling and wanted to attend a baptismal service today, and the only person in all of Xela that was ready was Alejandro! So, we called him up and it turned out that he was in Guatemala City, but he could be back here by 5! So, we arranged everything with the ward mission leader and the bishop, and the plan was that we would have his baptismal interview at 5 and his baptism at 7. It was pretty obvious that Satan did not want for this baptism to happen today, and because of that we had many obstacles. First, Alejandro ended up being late from leaving Guatemala City, and at 2 we received a text from him saying that he would not have his baptism today because he could not leave until 6 because his brother was in school, it being a 3 hour drive from Guatemala City to Xela. After about an hour of talking to him about options to get him back to Xela in time, we decided that he needed to ask his brother if they could leave early. It was a real trial of my faith. We were very close to canceling the baptism, but we had already invited many of the members and most of them had cancelled many important plans to be able to come. So, we trusted in God and let him handle the rest. At 4, we receive a call from Alejandro that his brother would be able to leave early and they would soon be on their way back, so we were still on! We got to the church at 6 and waited. By 7 members started to arrive, and the person who was going to be baptized still was not there. at 7:30 President Smith arrived with his family, and still no Alejandro. So, we put on a 30 minute video to occupy many impatient members. The video soon ended, and at 8:20 Alejandro still had not arrived but was close. And so, in a moment of pure inspiration, I gave a 15 minute talk on faith, baptism, and Miracles. Nothing prepared, just listening to the spirit. I can say that it was one of my most amazing speeches I have ever given. Before I finished, Alejandro arrived! Our Zone leader had left, and so he had the opportunity to have his baptismal interview with none other than President Smith. He chose for me to baptize him, and so I went to change into my baptismal clothing, when the ward mission leader informed me that something had happened to the water heater, and we would be baptizing in freezing cold water. Satan tried, but our faith conquered. As we stepped in the freezing cold water, I was nervous but the spirit was so strong. As I said the prayer and baptized Alejandro, Heavenly Father blessed us with a miracle and neither of us were effected by the water. Gods hand was in every bit of the process, from protecting Alejandro on his drive to blessing the members with patience. It was one of the most beautiful experiences, and an amazing experience to grow my own faith.

Testimony Time:

This week I have been studying in the Book of Mormon in the war chapters of Alma. For me, sometimes it is hard to find things that I am able to apply in my own life from these chapters, but I have been trying. I learned a lot this week from the story of the 2000 stripling warriors. In Alma 53: 20 and 21 we learn about the attributes of these amazing men. 

1. Exceedingly Valiant for courage, strength, and activity. 

2. True at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.  

3. Men of truth and soberness. 

4. Kept the commandments of God and walked uprightly before him. 

These are the kind of attributes that I want to adopt more in my life. We see that as they had these attributes, they were blessed with amazing faith, strength, and blessings from God. I work so hard to improve myself every day, and what a blessing it is to have so many amazing examples from the scriptures to work off of. I know that God wants for me to have the most success here, and as long as I trust in him and work to live up to his expectations he will lift and carry me higher than I could ever go. I know that God loves us and wants the best for us. As we work to become what he wants, he will mold and shape us. These things I share in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love you all! Have an amazing week! 

Crazy Volcano!  But a beautiful sight!

My house!

On top of our house.

Meal time!