My first baptism!!

2/16/15  This week was packed full of incredible miracles! First of all, we were able to visit with Maria every day, and we were able to teach her all the lessons she needed before baptism. I could see every day we visited her that she was happier and happier. When we taught her about temples, she just loved it! She couldn't believe that she would have the opportunity to be baptized for her mother. We reviewed the baptismal interview questions with her on Friday, and she passed it with flying colors! We set the time for the baptism at 5:00 on Saturday.

When Saturday came along, we visited with Maria in the morning, just to go over what was going to happen, and to do the interview. She told us that when she woke up that day, she felt so happy and peaceful. I was really happy to hear that. The interview went great, and we did a few practices with how the baptism was going to happen. We had to spend the whole day in the chapel to get everything ready with the programs and filling the font. We decided that I was going to do the baptism, and I was super excited for that.

Maria came about an hour early, and she was really excited to get into her white baptismal clothes. When it came to be 10 minutes before 5:00, I noticed that I hadn't memorized the baptismal prayer. That kind of really stressed me out, so we were all rushing to write it down and practice it. Luckily, I got it memorized really quickly without any problems. There were two other people getting baptized at the same time, but I was chosen to go first. It was such an incredible experience to be able to perform that ordinance for my first time. It was almost like everything was in slow motion. Despite my nervousness, I was able to perform everything perfectly. It was such a privilege to be able to see the change in her life from the moment we first knocked on her door, to the moments just after her baptism. It is truly beautiful to see such wonderful changes in a person. She shared her testimony at the end of the service, and it was beautiful. She said that at first she had doubts, but now she knows that the church is true, and the Book of Mormon is true.

After the baptism, the ward had a little Valentines Day dance in the chapel, and Maria and her husband stayed for that. It was so funny to see her dancing all by herself when we walked in the room. She was so happy, and you could see it radiating off of her. She was confirmed by the Bishop yesterday, and she was still as happy as can be. Now, it is the responsibility of the members to make sure that she has friends in the ward to talk to. That being said, I am really excited to have the opportunity to teach her all the lessons again as a recent convert!

Keep Antonio in your prayers. He has a baptismal date for the 28th of Feb. and he has been loving the lessons and church!

Justin with Elder Contreras and Maria at her baptism

Justin and Inés, a recent convert

Two miracles!

2/9/15  So we had our two day specialized training this week, and it was so great!! We learned about a lot of things, and I always love hearing from Pres. Pace. One of the things we focused on is family history work. We all got little booklets to fill out with all of our family's information up to 4 generations. We were also encouraged to share these booklets with all of our recent converts, and help them fill them out. Family history work is really a huge thing in missionary work, and it works as a great tool to get people to the temple. I encourage everyone reading this to do a little research into your own family history. It really is a great thing to do to invite the spirit.

This week we taught the word of wisdom and other commandments to Maria. We were a little nervous about the word of wisdom, because practically everyone here drinks coffee. When we told her what this commandment prohibits, she assured us that she had never tried any of those things. She has been living the word of wisdom her whole life, and she didn't even know it! So golden! Her baptism was announced in sacrament meeting this week, and she was so excited! We are planning to meet with her every day this week, and I am so excited for her baptism this Saturday at 5:00. Keep her in your prayers!

Huge miracle this week! Well, two I guess. The first one is an investigator that the sister missionaries passed to us. His name is Byron, and he is 19 years old. We visited with him, turns out he speaks perfect English. While we were starting the lesson, two of his friends came to his house, and sat in on the lesson. All three of them said they would love to take the lessons. The lesson at first was a little rough. He told us that he didn't really believe in religion, and it seemed like it was going to be one of those "Why do you need religion" lessons. We managed to get enough traction to get us to Joseph Smith, and after I quoted the first vision, the whole attitude changed. Instead of questioning us, they started to listen intently, and wanted to learn more. That really strengthened my testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. The words of the first vision are so powerful, and they always invite the spirit.

The other miracle happened this morning. The other elders contacted someone that lives in our area, so they passed him to us. They told us that they already set a baptismal date with him, so I was super excited to meet him. We met him this morning, and he lives way out in the middle of nowhere. A tiny pueblo just outside of Zaragoza. We taught him the restoration, and he loved every bit of it. We have a baptismal date for the 28 of February with him, and he is already so ready for baptism. His name is Antonio, and I can't believe how much he already knows about the gospel. He is clearly one of the people the Lord has prepared! Keep him in your prayers as well!

Although at first things were a little rough, I am seeing so many miracles, and I am so happy right now. Every one of these miracles has strengthened not only my faith and testimony, but they give me energy and make me happier every day! I can see now why people say that the mission is the best two years of your life.

As always, I miss you all, and love you so much! ¡Que tengan una buena semana!

Back to Barcelona for a day

2/2/15   This week was a great week with Maria. We were able to teach her twice, and the second time we watched the video of the Restoration. She loved it, and the spirit was so strong at the part about the first vision. I wanted to pause it and point out to her that that feeling was the spirit testifying of the truth, but I didn´t have the remote. We also talked about the Book of Mormon, and how we need to pray and specifically ask God if it is true. She started praying right then, and it took us a minute to figure out that she wasn't just talking to us. Her prayers are awesome! They literally sound like she is having a conversation, which is great, because that is what prayer should be.

She came to church again yesterday, but this time she was already in the chapel when we got there. We got there 15 minutes early! The closing hymn was "Families Can Be Together Forever", and by the end, she was crying. She is progressing so fast, and is excited every time we have a lesson with her. She is so funny because the only fear of baptism she has is that she doesn't like getting water on her face. I really am so excited for her to get baptized.

Tomorrow I was told I have to travel back to Barcelona for residency stuff. I'm actually really excited. I love traveling. I'll get to see all of my friends who came here from the MTC with me, and I am really excited to see how they are doing. This week we also have a two day specialized training. We aren't sure what it is about, but some missionaries think we might be getting i-pads. To be honest, I think it will just be about family history work, because that is becoming a really big thing in the mission.

As always, I love you guys so much, and I hope you have a great week!

My first baptismal commitment!

1/26/15   So this week we had several lessons with Maria, and she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. She is always so excited to talk with us, so we decided it was time to ask her to be baptized. The lesson before, I asked her to read 3 Nephi 11, which talks about when Jesus visited the Nephites and taught the doctrine of baptism. We planned to talk over and discuss this chapter in our next lesson, and then ask her to be baptized.

The next time we saw her, she had read the whole chapter, and came with questions. That went along perfectly with our plan, so we discussed the important parts of the chapter, and when it came time to ask her if she would be baptized, my companion let me do it. It got quiet, which is rare with her because she talks so much, and I asked if you feel that this is something that you need to do, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized? At first, it seemed like she was avoiding the question, because she went off talking about something completely unrelated like she usually does, but when my companion brought her attention back, she said yes!! We set her date for the 14th of February.

We also asked her if she wanted to come to a baptismal service we were having that night so she could see what it was like, and she was really excited to go. She came, and said she really enjoyed it, but when she saw that you had to put your face under water, she got a little scared. She was laughing as she told us that she has a fear of going under water. She really liked the service though, and seemed really excited when she left.

On Sunday she came to church, and she came early. She was so eager to be there that she went into the chapel and saved us seats. That never happens with investigators! She really enjoyed the meeting, and loves singing hymns. I really am so excited for her. She is such a golden investigator, and I can´t wait to see her baptized.

Other than that, not much happened this week. I got pretty sick on Friday, and had to stay in our apartment all day, but I am feeling much better now. I feel like I am just getting over the hard part of adjusting, and we are starting to find success in the work.  Miss you all so much, and love you tons!

P.S. Keep Maria in your prayers!