Buenos Dias a todos! Well, things are finally starting to click here... We've had an awesome week! I got to do my first Spanish baptismal interview last Thursday and the baptism on Friday was amazing because of the amount of investigators we had there, as well as the zone leaders! Elder Burgos has been here for 9 months and said that he's never seen that many people at a baptism there and what was even cooler about it was they were almost all investigators! We had 3 different families there (well couples with little kids) and they all loved it! Afterwards we all got together and said a massive prayer of gratitude because that just doesn't happen.
And then the next two days of conference were awesome of course! I especially liked Elder Bednar's talk on spiritual revelation, Elder Cristofferson's talk on correction, and President Uchtdorf's talk on living beneath our potential (in the priesthood session). It helped me open my eyes and realize that the Lord really does work with us normally step by step (poco a poco), and that we generally don't receive a testimony of something all in one moment. What was awesome was seeing this actually applied with Ana and Pedro. They came to the baptism, but I guess they felt pressured by members asking them when they were going to get baptized. They told us that they wanted more time, to go to church more, and to get to know more. We were heart-broken, but in our next lesson we told them to read Alma 32 together as a couple and we were going to check back with them. I could not believe what happened last night when we went and visited them.
We were chatting and Pedro asked Ana, "Hey - what's faith?" She shushed him, but then proceeded to give the best answer I've ever heard. She said that it's trusting in God and knowing that he's there to bless us when we do His will, even when we don't know everything. She said it applied to them perfectly because they don't need to know everything to get baptized. They have to show their faith by doing it and they will be rewarded afterwards and understanding will come with time. She said she just wanted to get baptized!! Pedro also said some things that amazed me about how the Lord humbles us and tests our faith. It was funny because that's not necessarily what we were intending but hey, it looks like we're going to see them both get baptized this Saturday!! I've never seen the power of the Book of Mormon manifested so plainly and clearly in a lesson before. The Holy Ghost spoke to them and told them exactly what they need to do, and they listened. It was basically one of the best nights of my entire life. We also visited this older guy named Juan Sandoval who can literally hardly contain himself, he wants to get baptized so bad. He's going to April 16th and has already seen trials and has been anti-ed but he's unfazed. I love the faith and the innocence I see in him and in Ana and Pedro. They are like little children, humble and willing to learn. And that's why it's an incredible blessing to teach them.
Elder Johnson and I right now are also doing better than we ever have in the past. We're working more efficiently and with more unity than ever before. Things were a little tense between us because we were letting things bug us and not communicating well, but after Conference we had an awesome talk and noticed a literal night/day difference in our effectiveness! People responded differently and lessons went a million times better - the Spirit was more present and life was far more enjoyable! I love my mission! ~ Elder Carlson
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