Week 75

 Hey everyone!

So this past Saturday was a pretty awesome day! I got my first baptism!!!!... in my own area!!!!! We have been working with this less active family for the past two transfers, and we were able to help their daughter Kaely progress towards baptism! She has such a great love for Jesus and wants to be exactly like Him. Shouldn't we all? 

I have spent the majority of my mission planting seeds and seeing the fruits after I leave the area, so this was a pretty cool experience to actually plan a baptism and put the whole program together. I am so proud of Kaely and her decision.

In addition to Kaely's baptism, another one of our amigos, Alexia, who I had taught in my old area, Rancho Vista, got baptized the same day!! What's super cool is that my old companion, Elder Bowles, and I had found Alexia and her mom through the English Class initiative, which ultimately led to reactivating her mom and Alexia getting baptized!! And our roommates also had a baptism the same day as well!!! I played the piano at all 3 of the baptisms... and I think I'm gonna have to take a break from playing "Cuando me bautice" for a bit.

On a less awesome note, everyone else that we have been teaching have stopped progressing, so we really don't have anyone to teach anymore :(((( So we set some pretty epic area goals, and for these last three weeks of the transfer, we are going to absolutely push for finding as many people possible through English Classes, member referrals, and our own street contacting. Pray that we see miracles!

In my studies this week, I learned the importance of applying scriptures. Normally, when planning lessons, I have always thought of scriptures that support the principle that we are teaching, but I've found it more effective to think of scriptures that show how we can apply the principle. This is something that we naturally do when reading books or watching movies; we put ourselves in the shoes of a character to see how we would've reacted otherwise. And by doing so with the scriptures, the Spirit can really touch our hearts.

I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and support. And HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!! 

Elder Terry

Fotos:

1) Kaely at her baptism!!

2-3) Alexia at her baptism!!

4) Elder Daniel and I

5-6) English classes

7) Elders being Elders

8) There's a saying that a baptismal form is the same worth as a soul. So we treat ours with care and make sure it's nice and safe

9) Me in a box at the food bank cause it lasted an hour and a half longer than usual and it was like 2748201°F