"BaptIZE!"

I often think of Nacho Libre when my companion is practicing her English and says "baptIZE!". Haha.  Speaking of baptism... Yolanda was baptized this week! Oh she really is amazing. All week she was just telling us how excited she was about her baptism. Everything went really well... Other than the night before she introduced us to her ex boyfriend... they have a long history, that´s not all too pretty. We were a little worried that they were back together or something, but we talked to her before the baptism and she told us that they are just friends. She said they were talking the night before her baptism and he told her he is really excited for her to be baptized. She told him that she was soon going to be like one of "us"... a missionary! She has strong desires to serve the Lord, to be strong in the gospel, and to do His will. Truly an example for me. In her testimony after her baptism she expressed her sincere joy and excitement to be baptized. She said she knows she will never leave the church. I know that´s true. She is so strong and so happy right now! I love her so much and am SO incredible happy for her and SO grateful for the opportunity we had to teach her. I know that Heavenly Father sent her to us and us to her so that she could experience the great joy of the gospel. 

Sometimes as a missionary, we are more than a teacher of the gospel, or a messenger of truth... but we are marriage counselors, phsycologists, or nurses... I felt that strongly this week. We are working with the Aguilar family. Really really really long story, but they were seperated and now they are back together. They have four ADORABLE kids! They are all less active and 2 of the kids aren´t baptized yet. Everytime we are with them as a family, there is contention between the parents and mainly between the Dad and the kids. It´s really sad, but they both have desires to come back to church and strengthen their family. Yesterday we had a lesson (or a counseling session) with just the parents and another couple from the ward. The bishop and leaders from the ward are all really worried about them too, so there is a stellar couple, Fredy and Izayda, who are going to help them, kind of like their home teachers, but as a couple. Anyway, the visit we had with them was really good. They both expressed their desires to improve their family. At one point the wife started rambling on about how he plays the radio way too loud when she is trying to watch TV after work. Haha. It´s funny how the littlest things can blow up into huge, unecessary arguments. They both want what is best for their kids and they want to be happy. I have great faith that they are going to achieve that goal. We talked a lot about strenghtening the family through the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ: prayer, faith, repentance, FORGIVENESS, etc. The husband expressed to us how things have changed and improved since the missionaries started visiting their family. There´s a quote that says,"A missionary is something that leaves their family for a short time so that others can have families for the eternities." I am grateful for this opportunity to help bring families closer together through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Thanks for being the greatest family in the world, for living the gospel of Jesus Christ and staying strong in the church. You have NO idea how much that means to me as a missionary. I love you all so much!

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Nelson