Hola!
Hey well today is transfer today, and yeah Wednesday is Preparation Day for the entire mission. It is a good day to have it, and it's a nice break in the middle of the week. But anyways, we found out that just about everyone is staying here. Our zone leader (Elder Robinson- super awesome elder) is going home today- his 2 years are up- and his companion is getting moved too. But the rest of us are all still here and I'm so grateful! I was worried that I would be moved and that I would have to leave all these people we've been teaching. So Elder Cuthbertson and I are still here, and they are splitting our area in two and bringing down two more Spanish missionaries. We're anxious to see which half of Yuma we have and which people we're going to end up teaching. My companion is also now a district leader, so we're all going to be a little extra busy.
But the most exciting part of the week was last night! We've been meeting with the Barraza family a lot this week (the ones I talked about last time), and all of the kids came to church on Sunday. And then Cesar Jr. told us he couldn't wait any longer and wanted to get baptized Tuesday! We said no problem so we set up everything and got him baptized last night. It was super cool and especially special for me because he asked me to baptize him, so I performed my first baptism and it was just sweet. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone so happy, excited, and glowing as he was after that baptism. He hugged everyone there (there was actually a pretty huge crowd- over 60 people!) and he just set such a great example for the rest of his family. His 2 little siblings are going to get baptized soon and they are both excited. We sang a really cool baptism song, partially in Spanish, and the whole thing was just such an amazing experience. This family is just making such progress and growing so much!
We had another pleasant surprise when we found a fellowshipper for one of our investigators (for Maria Hernandez), we asked her about getting baptized this week and she said yes! So we're going to have another one this Saturday and she's so excited too. She's so ready and willing to take this step and is just so full of faith. She has no doubts or concerns and I know she's going to be a super strong member. It's so nice having members go out with us, who really help these people and become their friends. Especially when you see their sincerity and genuine concern. I am just a tiny bit nervous because I'm going to confirm her on Sunday and that definitely involves quite a bit of Spanish, but I'm going to really pray and prepare for it and I know it will all work out.
We're singing more than ever, probably 6 or 7 times in the next few days, and I've played the piano a little bit. It can be tough sometimes to come up with so many songs to sing! But it's super cool and fun, and usually enjoyable.
Oh, and Hermana Amparo is going to get baptized the weekend after General Conference, and she's so ready. We've loved teaching her and her family, and she is bringing her husband to lessons. Hopefully soon their entire family will be members together and be able to go to the temple! She brought her family to this big Mexican party we had on Friday. Since it was Mexican Independence Day Thursday our branch had a big party Friday night that was awesome. We had a lot of investigators come and have fun and make friends, so I think it was a definite success. Some of the food was definitely interesting, some very hot, but I guess that would be kind of expected, huh?
So we've got a lot of people preparing for baptism and getting baptized real soon, and I love it! They're making huge changes in their lives, and embracing what they know to be true. You can see their immense faith in Jesus Christ and their desire to follow him and do what He wants. In a lesson we just had yesterday we asked how an investigator felt about the Church and the Book of Mormon and at first she said,"I believe it's true", and then she said no, "Yo se que si". I know it's true. So we've really been blessed and really focusing on commitments like going to Church, reading, and praying, so people have the chance to really know the truthfulness of this wonderful Gospel. I've been learning so much from every single person we teach, and I'm definitely growing all the time.
I LOVE it here and I'm so glad I get to stay this next transfer!!
Doing great and loving it :)
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