July 23, 2018

Fam, 

Edin's baptism was an utter success.

Our Monday lesson with Edin we had planned to finish up some of the final preparations for the baptismal service. It turned out well. He lives with a member family who lives on a pretty sketchy street. What was funny was as we were reviewing our plans before we walked in we saw this guy walking down the middle of the street. I could see something around his neck but thought nothing of it. We continued talking and offered a prayer before heading in. As we finished the prayer the guy was walking by the car and his "necklace" was a 8-10 foot live python. It was pretty gangster. I was only able to grab a picture after he had passed with the car mirror, unfortunately it doesn't give justice to its epic-ness. It's fun to work in the hood. 

Friday was our trade off. I went with Elder Wilkins. We had a pretty open day so we just parked the car and walked for a few hours talking with people. Knowing the area so well its pretty convenient. We knocked on about 15 doors and talked with about 10 of them. They were all people I had talked to previously but never was able to teach for one reason or another. It becomes a lot easier to talk with people when you remember what they were interested in but they don't remember the two minute conversation you had with them over a year ago. As an example we talked to this one lady for  10 minutes on the Proclamation to the Family and the blessings that come when families follow the inspired counsel in that document. Unfortunately we weren't able to have a formal lesson or set an appointment but she had a better contact with the church than she had the last time we had talked with her. 

We ended the trade-off with a delicious dinner with Teodoro and his family. We presented them with a picture of the Chicago temple with the text on it saying "Eternas pueden ser las familias." They're excited to be sealed as a family in the temple and we even had them sign their names to the framed picture to continue to diligently prepare to be able to have an eternal family. 

Saturday we were checking up on the two speakers for Edin's baptism to make sure they were ready. One of the speakers had never spoken in church or anything. He was still super lost but we were able to help formulate a talk and practiced with him for about an hour. In one hour we moved from reading the guide to the scriptures entry on baptism all the way through including the summaries to the cited scriptures to an actually acceptable talk. We even taught him how to bear testimony. So many people don't know how to bear testimony. The talk "Pure Testimony" by Elder Ballard along side the "True to the faith" entry on testimony are such a good resources to help people understand what is and what isn't a testimony appropriate for a church meeting. 

"Pure Testimony" by Elder Ballard

"Testimony" from True to the Faith

Sunday was spectacular. The stake president was there to set apart the new branch presidency councilor and Elders Quorum president, something we've waited a while for. It was a great moment. I've learned the absolute necessity of faithful men and the power of priesthood keys. The Stake President served a full time mission in Portugal and tries to speak Spanish and it's nigh unto unintelligible. It's like trying to fit a round dowel into a small triangular whole but using a large hammer to force it through no matter what. But he tries and that's what counts. The New Elders Quorum president was set apart during third hour with everyone present. The stake president did the setting apart but beforehand took a moment to explain the role of priesthood keys. If you have questions on what I mean by Priesthood keys check out true to the faith "priesthood keys" under the section titled "Priesthood."  

See "Priesthood Keys" under the topic of "Priesthood

The spirit was so powerful as he, in his - what he calls - Span-guese, explained what it is and their importance. It was a special moment made better because it was shared with two recent converts who are soon to receive the priesthood and three investigating men all who want to be baptized.

About the last month or two we've been praying and fasting a lot for men to come to the Branch either through convert baptisms or new move-ins and that has started to become very fruitful. Daniel has some complications that are being resolved but he is now open that he wants to be baptized once said complications are resolved. His brother José Manuel is going to be baptized August 4th, and we've recently had two convert baptisms. One of the members also had a friend move here for the next 6 months who served a mission, has served in numerous callings including bishop and stake presidents councilor. Momentum is picking up. 

The real crazy thing is the power of one. Fransisca, through her own personal conversion has begun sharing the gospel. As fruit of that labor her son was baptized, both her brothers who live here are close or are going to be baptized, and she has introduced us to many of her friends, one of which is currently taking the lessons. As PMG puts it, missionaries "succeed best when members become the source from which new investigators are found" (PMG page 160-161). If only all shared the gospel with the same enthusiasm, or even tried. 

Edin's baptism like I mentioned was super good. We had to change the service time due to some scheduling conflicts but after a few hours of calls everyone knew and showed up on time! Another miracle. It's possible that the last two baptisms have been the only two branch activities to start on time haha. It was a spiritual feast and afterwards Edin mentioned that it was way better than he ever expected. Connor, one of the people who taught him with us, performed the baptism and I confirmed him on Sunday. 



-eric