Buenos Dias Familia,
¿Comó les va? Ha sido tanto tiempo. Demasiado. Hey everybody I love you so much.
My mission is going amazing! I love it out here now. I am so glad I made the necessary changes so that I can serve my mission with full purpose of heart now. I love my mission. I have learned so many things.
Ok, so I had my first baptism and confirmation that I performed on this past Saturday and Sunday. Iris asked me to do both and I was very excited to do it. Also Luzmaria Roxanna Ceja Torres was baptized the same day also, in otherwords, Roxy. It was so cool to have these two baptisms and I felt the spirit super strong and I was excited to be a part of it. They both bore their testimonies at the baptism, after the service and it was excellent. I am kind of worried about Iris. I hope she stays on track. I will continue to work with her.
Also, Elder Daniele returned to Argentina and I now am in a trio with the English missionaries here. They believe in having companionship unity time, birthday parties, member dinners and barbecues. I am glad that they are having so much fun. In the mean time, I go out with members everyday and keep up with my area. I am teaching almost entirely in Spanish now and since Elder Daniel left I know have to do everything in Spanish. The cool thing is, I listened to his correct Spanish for a long time but never had the opportunity to speak it. Now I do and I can speak. I don’t know how. Last week when he was here I still couldn’t say anything but I would have to say that my Spanish has grown more in the past three days than in any other time of my mission. I am now obsessed with Mexico and anything Hispanic. I love Spanish. I feel like I finally can connect to my investigators in Spanish and before I was always the silent missionary.
I loved Elder Daniele so much. I miss him. However, I am so glad that I have these two weeks to prove myself. I feel like God is giving me a challenge to see if I am going to be a slacker missionary when no one is pushing me to work or if I will do it myself. I am responding to the challenge. My goal was to get a baptismal date every single day of this week. I have received three so far. Today I will try again. There is a 9 year old girl named Mireley and I think I can get a baptismal date with her. Today is p-day but I don’t even want P-day anymore. I want to work all day. I am trying to get it set up so that I can go out with a member and I don’t want have to waste my time jugando con misioneros locos que deberÃan estar en un la escuela secondaria.
So we have a baptismal date for Nacho Hernandez and also his wife, Melissa, for the 13th of March. Also, Consuelo is set to be baptized this day. I know that they will be ready although Nacho Hernandez and Melissa need to get married first and she doesn’t want to. She wants to get baptized though, and with this desire we will be able to move forward and get her married. I have faith that they will make their baptismal dates. I pray that the husband of Consuelo, will come back from Mexico soon enough that he can get baptized also but who knows.
All I want to say is that this has been the best week of my mission. I spend all my days with Hispanic members helping me teach and I love them. I have so many people to teach and baptize. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to teach her and especially to have my own area where I decide how things are done. Now I am working harder than I have ever worked.
I am obsessed with my mission! I never want to go home. Now it is not a bipolar up and down thing so much as it was before. Ever since I gave up all the things that reminded me of my old a few weeks ago, I have begun to create a new identity as a servant of the Lord. I know that this gospel is true and it changes lives because I can feel the change that it is bringing to pass in my life. Also, I see the changes that happen in others lives. I feel like my testimony is burning inside of me. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and I want everyone to have that testimony.
I love you guys
Elder Bernard
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
2 baptisms coming up and I'm loving my mission
Guess what everybody??!!!
We are having two baptisms this Saturday. We have been working with Roxy and Iris and they are both going to be baptized at five this Saturday. I am so excited.
Roxy is so prepared and she loves the gospel. It is weird because she was like a total party girl and now she gave up drinking, coffee, and she committed to live the Law of Chastity. I am so glad that she has progressed so much. She came to church last week and she loved it. Her three year old girl was crying because she didn't want to go home and she loved her classes so much. Roxy also came to a Noche de Hogar and it was really fun.
Iris also came to church for the first time this week and she loved it and the people just loved her. You have to know Iris. She is the funniest, most energetic, black lady and she just brings a smile everywhere she goes. I am so happy that I have had the opportunity to work with her. Her son Xavier, who is 8, also loved. He said "Man, church was so cool." We have not taught him much because Iris is already a handful but we will focus on him soon and then he should be able to get baptized in a few weeks.
We had a lesson with Iris on Monday that was amazing. Normally she is very difficult to teach because she always acts like a child and goofs around and jokes. This time she broke down and really shared everything with us. She knows the Book of Mormon is true and that this is God’s church. She knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She understands the Restoration. She knows all this but her family does not like the Mormon Church and she says that her mom is very Baptist and she knows that her family will reject her if she joins the church. We shared some scriptures and lots of testimony and the spirit was strong. She was almost in tears but she didn’t feel like she had the strength to follow God at this time. She didn’t want to sacrifice her family. I shared the story of Christian Johnson who left Denmark and his family (at least I hope it was him. At this point in the lesson I was really wishing that I had all the details about him because I kind of had to just guess on the details.) I told her of how glad I am that my ancestors had the strength to give up everything so that I could have the truth now. Even though I probably told his story a little bit wrong the spirit was really strong. Elder Daniele also told a similar story about how his father was rejected from his family when he joined the church but now within fifteen years their hearts softened and many of them joined the church. We promised Iris that she has the strength to do it. She didn’t seem convinced.
The next day we shared with her the story of Jonah and the whale and how we can’t really run from God’s will and she told us that she was willing to be baptized and rely on God to help her family. We were not sure if she would rather do it this week or next week and we gave her the option of putting of her baptism but she wanted to do it this week and so we are excited to have her baptized this Saturday. It truly was a miracle what happened here because on Monday she was not willing to be baptized at all the next day she didn’t even want to put it back a week. I know that God is performing miracles in my mission.
We have a lot of other people that are also right close to being baptized. I will give you the update on them next week but it is crazy to see how many miracles are happening every day.
I had the opportunity to see some of the people I knew from Pasadena at the Noche de Hogar on Monday and also after zone conference last week. I saw my favorite family, the Salazar-Jimenez family, and all their kids. They are the family that I kept sending you pictures of in Pasadena. They told me that the divorce is almost done so that they can get married and Jose Salazar will be able to get baptized. They are so cool and when I saw them all the kids ran up to me and told me they loved me and I that they missed me so bad and I was almost crying because it felt so good. It was so cool because when I was in Pasadena, I loved them so much but I couldn’t speak to them because my Spanish was so bad but now when I see them I can talk. They told me about Elder Trappett, he finished his mission and is working at Subway in Idaho. He told them that I was his favorite companion and I loved being his companion so much also.
Also, I saw Santo Lerdo, who was the coolest member ever and I totally loved talking to him. He said he prayed for me a ton to learn Spanish and he said “I guess it worked.” I also, saw other members and one person we taught named Yoni Castro asked me to baptize him in the future. Seeing all those members at the Noche de Hogar was like how I imagine heaven. We get to see all the people we love and we will be so exceedingly happy to see each other and know that we are still firm in the faith. I have never been so happy in my life as this night at the Noche de Hogar and also at the zone conference when I got to see some of my favorite members. The relationships I have developed are the best. I love my mission.
I have become very passionate about my mission now that I am not distracted by my past life. My mission is shaping my identity. The Lord will shape me into the person I need to be. I love my mission!!! I know that what I am a part of is changing lives and I know that the savior loves his children and wants them back. How grateful I am to be a part of it.
I love you all
Elder Bernard
We are having two baptisms this Saturday. We have been working with Roxy and Iris and they are both going to be baptized at five this Saturday. I am so excited.
Roxy is so prepared and she loves the gospel. It is weird because she was like a total party girl and now she gave up drinking, coffee, and she committed to live the Law of Chastity. I am so glad that she has progressed so much. She came to church last week and she loved it. Her three year old girl was crying because she didn't want to go home and she loved her classes so much. Roxy also came to a Noche de Hogar and it was really fun.
Iris also came to church for the first time this week and she loved it and the people just loved her. You have to know Iris. She is the funniest, most energetic, black lady and she just brings a smile everywhere she goes. I am so happy that I have had the opportunity to work with her. Her son Xavier, who is 8, also loved. He said "Man, church was so cool." We have not taught him much because Iris is already a handful but we will focus on him soon and then he should be able to get baptized in a few weeks.
We had a lesson with Iris on Monday that was amazing. Normally she is very difficult to teach because she always acts like a child and goofs around and jokes. This time she broke down and really shared everything with us. She knows the Book of Mormon is true and that this is God’s church. She knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She understands the Restoration. She knows all this but her family does not like the Mormon Church and she says that her mom is very Baptist and she knows that her family will reject her if she joins the church. We shared some scriptures and lots of testimony and the spirit was strong. She was almost in tears but she didn’t feel like she had the strength to follow God at this time. She didn’t want to sacrifice her family. I shared the story of Christian Johnson who left Denmark and his family (at least I hope it was him. At this point in the lesson I was really wishing that I had all the details about him because I kind of had to just guess on the details.) I told her of how glad I am that my ancestors had the strength to give up everything so that I could have the truth now. Even though I probably told his story a little bit wrong the spirit was really strong. Elder Daniele also told a similar story about how his father was rejected from his family when he joined the church but now within fifteen years their hearts softened and many of them joined the church. We promised Iris that she has the strength to do it. She didn’t seem convinced.
The next day we shared with her the story of Jonah and the whale and how we can’t really run from God’s will and she told us that she was willing to be baptized and rely on God to help her family. We were not sure if she would rather do it this week or next week and we gave her the option of putting of her baptism but she wanted to do it this week and so we are excited to have her baptized this Saturday. It truly was a miracle what happened here because on Monday she was not willing to be baptized at all the next day she didn’t even want to put it back a week. I know that God is performing miracles in my mission.
We have a lot of other people that are also right close to being baptized. I will give you the update on them next week but it is crazy to see how many miracles are happening every day.
I had the opportunity to see some of the people I knew from Pasadena at the Noche de Hogar on Monday and also after zone conference last week. I saw my favorite family, the Salazar-Jimenez family, and all their kids. They are the family that I kept sending you pictures of in Pasadena. They told me that the divorce is almost done so that they can get married and Jose Salazar will be able to get baptized. They are so cool and when I saw them all the kids ran up to me and told me they loved me and I that they missed me so bad and I was almost crying because it felt so good. It was so cool because when I was in Pasadena, I loved them so much but I couldn’t speak to them because my Spanish was so bad but now when I see them I can talk. They told me about Elder Trappett, he finished his mission and is working at Subway in Idaho. He told them that I was his favorite companion and I loved being his companion so much also.
Also, I saw Santo Lerdo, who was the coolest member ever and I totally loved talking to him. He said he prayed for me a ton to learn Spanish and he said “I guess it worked.” I also, saw other members and one person we taught named Yoni Castro asked me to baptize him in the future. Seeing all those members at the Noche de Hogar was like how I imagine heaven. We get to see all the people we love and we will be so exceedingly happy to see each other and know that we are still firm in the faith. I have never been so happy in my life as this night at the Noche de Hogar and also at the zone conference when I got to see some of my favorite members. The relationships I have developed are the best. I love my mission.
I have become very passionate about my mission now that I am not distracted by my past life. My mission is shaping my identity. The Lord will shape me into the person I need to be. I love my mission!!! I know that what I am a part of is changing lives and I know that the savior loves his children and wants them back. How grateful I am to be a part of it.
I love you all
Elder Bernard
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
