Well unfortunately, we were not able to have the baptism
this Saturday. During the week, we did a little tour with Francisco and Pedro's
parents to show them what we do in the Church. We focused on the youth and the
standards that they use in the Church. They were great with all of it and told
us they have no problems with their sons being baptized. However, Francisco and
Pedro started school today and the parents wanted them to finish their summer
homework this weekend instead of having the baptism, which is understandable.
It is better for everyone because we have time to prepare and it's not as
rushed as it would've been. The parents told us that during the past couple of
weeks they have seen a change in their kid, specifically that they have grown
up a bit in the short time they’ve been working with us, so that feels good.
Also, the mom was able to join the boys in church this weekend and it was the
coolest feeling to see the majority of the family together in Sacrament and
with the rest of the ward family. So, this weekend should be really exciting
for Elder Prestes and me! We are doing our best to get as many people as
possible to come to the baptism, so if you are free at 6 o'clock on Saturday,
come show some love!
The other big news of the week is that on Tuesday morning,
I said goodbye to Elder Martinez and then I picked up Elder Prestes later that
afternoon. Elder Prestes is from Uruguay and he has been in the mission for 10
months. So, we are both a little young in
the mission but this is not a bad thing. Prestes is a good missionary and we've
already had some awesome lessons together so I’m way pumped for the rest of
this transfer. This week we focused a lot on our boy, Nano, and his progress.
Our lessons with him are always a highlight in the week because we teach him
with his girlfriend's family and they always give great testimonies and explain
things a lot better than we do. This week we fixed a baptismal date with him so
I'm way pumped for that. To be honest, when I first met Nano at a lunch
appointment I didn't think much of him until we invited him to church and he
came. Ever since then he has become one of my most promising investigators.
Sometimes you just need to invite people to do things and miracles happen!
During the week, we received a reference to a dude named
George Cortez who is a barber down here in villa Mercedes. He is 38 years old
and recently separated from his wife. He has received the missionaries before
and got really close to baptism but never did it. So, when we met him this week
it was almost like we were with a long-lost friend. we were able to chat with
him a couple times this week and basically review what he had already learned
about the Church. He's an awesome dude and I’m already invited to his birthday
party so you can pretty much say we are “bros” now!
Another investigator who is making some good progress is
Leila. Leila has had a couple things
happen in her life that have led her to be independent and she doesn’t like to
depend on other people. In a previous lesson, she was pretty tough to crack, so
I had to reteach her all the principles we had already taught. However, this
week she was basically a new person. We showed her some awesome videos from the
Church about hope and love and I think it really softened her heart a bit. And
then we talked about the temple and what we do there and she really wants to
know more about the temple and go there someday. Leile was able to come to
church with us on Sunday and we were able to reinforce some of the principle we
taught her. She also made friends with a couple of members so it was an awesome
experience for her.
Everything is going really well down here and the work is
going strong! It's a blessing to have a big supportive ward that helps us and
makes our job so much easier. My favorite part of the Church is that we are all
brothers and sisters and the people of villa Mercedes have accepted me like
family, which has made my time here so far very enjoyable. I'm excited for this
week as we are helping Pedro and Francisco take the first big step in the
church!
Keep
it real and have a good week!
Elder
Roderick
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