A baptism!

9/12  This week was incredible! I was blessed with the opportunity to baptize Sebastian, the son of Gary, a less active member. We were teaching Gary and his family for a long time and had formed a very strong relationship with them when they moved to another ward. On Wednesday, Gary called me and informed me that Sebastian was going to be baptized on Saturday and that he wanted me to to it. It was an incredible experience! The baptism went very well and was very spiritual. Gary played and sang a song on his guitar that he wrote. It was very well done. I could tell it was a very special moment for Sebastian and especially for Gary. We've formed a friendship with him that will last forever!

Our investigators are still doing well. Manuel is progressing slowly but surely as is Inma. Eva Maria still wants to get baptized a lot, but she is struggling a little with a few of the requirements. She absolutely loves everything about the church though. She calls us every single day, sometimes twice a day, to tell us how she is and how happy she is for getting to know the gospel. It's just a matter of time before she too gets baptized. We had a visit with Alexia this week. She finally spoke with her mom about when she can get baptized, and her mom said she needs to pass all of her classes this year. Needless to say, nobody is really happy about that, but it's something. Now she has a goal to shoot for, and we are going to help her with that goal. It's a bummer I won't see her baptism though...

One scripture that really stood out to me this week was Alma 17:3 which says: "But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." That last part got me thinking about what gave their teaching power and authority, and how we can teach with power and authority today. While it's true prayer and fasting helped them, I couldn't help but think of something else that gave them the power and authority. As missionaries, we are literally called by a prophet of God to teach the gospel. With such a call comes authority to teach the word of God. However, the power comes from a different source. In order to teach with power, we need to have the spirit with us, and there is no better way to have the spirit with us than by being worthy of it. Thus, the authority in our teaching comes with the call, but the power comes through our obedience. If we want to be missionaries like Ammon and Aaron, we need to fast and pray as they did, but most importantly, we need to be as obedient as they were.

¡Un abrazo querido amigo!