WEEK 42: PIMENTEL

July 22, 2019

Today was a really good day, we had a great family night and p-day was awesome. I love our mission president like crazy. I will write more tomorrow because I am so tired.

July 24, 2019

We have been super busy running from lesson to lesson, trying to help our people get ready for baptism. We met with Sandra and Joansi, and we are still trying to help them progress. 

I love my companion, and I am learning to trust more in him, and in my calling too. Sometimes when I don't know what to say to someone, I just try to have faith. I think of the scripture in James 1:6 "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." I am trying to get rid of all my doubt.

July 25, 2019

Today was a really good day, we met with Maximila and she's getting baptized in two days. We are really excited for her. Also Gabriela, Sandra's daughter, had an accident in the park on a playground, and she had to go to the hospital, so that has delayed Sandra's baptism this month. 

I have been improving in my teaching, just really trying to find more ways to help the people here. I can honestly say that my love is growing for these people. That is one way that I know I'm getting better as a missionary, and I'm really grateful for this mission.

July 26, 2019

Today we had the baptismal interview for Hermana Maximila, and she's the best. She's so funny, Elder Gutierrez from Argentina interviewed her and she said she wanted him to baptize her, hahaha. Elder Gutierrez leaves the mission field in three days, and this will be his last baptism, so that worked out well.

Also today we had another great lesson with Renzo and Karen, they are so golden. I want them to progress so bad.

July 27, 2019

Today Maximila got baptized, and it was a miracle from God that everything happened as perfectly as planned. Well, I guess not exactly as planned - we told her the water was gonna be really warm and we had this great idea of boiling pots of water and throwing them into the font. So we were thinking, oh yeah, a couple of big pots of boiling water should be enough to warm it up. So we got there early and started boiling some water, and it took about 35 minutes just to boil one big pot of water. So we started the baptism program a little late, and had only time enough to add one pot of boiling water into the font. We had been talking up how warm the water was going to be all week, and yeah, it was still freezing cold. But Hermana Maximila took it like a champ. I think Elder Gutierrez was colder than she was. Also, Maximila's daughter came to her baptism, and she felt the Spirit so strongly that now she wants to listen to the message too. Hermana Maximila is 71 years old, and when she bore her testimony after the baptism, I knew she had felt the Holy Ghost, and I know she knows it's all true. My testimony was also strengthened, in that I know God lives, and that he is a loving God.

July 28, 2019

Today we confirmed Maximila a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is the best, and I am so grateful that I got to know her. We went running to her house to bring her to church on time, and we were there waiting in her house kind of in a hurry, and she gave us breakfast, then got ready. We took a mototaxi to the church, and got there just in time. I confirmed her, and was able to give her a special blessing. It was really great.

In the afternoon, it was really tough and we barely had any visits planned. We were contacting a lot of people and kind of wandering, and Elder Varas was a little down. So I kept saying, yo, you gotta have faith, we are gonna find someone chosen that's going to get baptized in three weeks. And we were walking around when I remembered a contact we had, so we went to look him up, and he was home. He was really interested in our message and we were able to teach him a lesson that went really well. God knows and guides all of our steps and His timing is perfect. 

Also, we had changes and I am getting transferred to Jose Olaya mañana.