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