Baptisms!

Hello everyone! another week has come and gone, and there were a lot of really great things that happened this week. i had a cough for the past two weeks from all of the cold and rain, but its just about better, but its been a little frustrating. it has been really cold here for the past two weeks and a lot of rain. its been a nice break from all of the heat and i´ll probably miss this weather in a month when its 100 or more degrees.

this past week i had a lot of really great experiences. the first that was really great was that i finally got to baptize. we had three baptisms and i got to baptize andres and a girl named lupita and my companion baptized a girl named rosa maria. It was a really great day this saturday but there were also some problems before. we started filling the faunt the night before and in the morning got a text from a member that it wasnt even half full yet. we arrived at the church and looked and it wasnt very full at all. i looked down at the drain and the spicket had been leaking all night. we needed to turn the thing harder with plyers to close it all the way. we did that and eventually found another hose and then filled it up enough to baptize. andres is the one that i taught with elder tanner and we were just waiting for his dad to come and sign the baptismal form, but he wanted to talk to us in person first. it was really great and a miracle that he could finally be baptized. the other two girls are daughters of a woman that i found with elder tanner his last week. they still dont have all of the knowledge but we are working hard with the whole family to try and get them all baptized and hopefully a year from now sealed together forever!

also this week i got to go to villahermosa and got to see elder thompson and elder plummer from my mtc district and also the other 4 elders that were in salt lake with me. we had to go and sign our visas and we got a card also for identification. the only bad thing about this trip was that it took basically two days. we all met up in coatzacoalcos and then with about 8 elders left for villahermosa that is about 3.5 hours away by bus. we got to the bus station in villa and had to wait a long time for someone to come get us. the next day we signed our visas and after that i got to eat subway! it was really expensive but it was fun to eat american food again ha. then we came back and i got back to my area about 7 at night. it was really great to get to see all of my friends from the mtc and they are doing great and it was fun now that we can all speak spanish, mas o menos ha.

this week i also had a really cool experience with a man named alfonso. he is an interesting investigator. the first lesson that we talked to him, he told us that he had already checked two other churches but was still looking for the truth, and he said maybe god sent us to him and he was ready to learn. for some reason though he doesnt want to read the book of mormon because he says he has to know the bible first, and he wont go to chruch because he says hes not ready. regardless we had some good lessons with him. one night he posed the question of that he wants to do good but if we know what is good, why do we still sin and have bad things. immediately i thought of 2 nephi 4 and nephi´s lament. i read a few verses for him and at the end of the lesson he told us how it was really amazing how we could find an answer for his question so close and from the scriptures. hopefully he will get over his doubts and be able to be baptized soon.

we have a lot of people preparing for baptism right now. one of which is hermana cristal. we have been teaching her for a while now and she is way great. she is the one with a little baby girl that is really fun. this past week we had a really good lesson with her about keeping the sabbath day holy and it turned into a conversation about whether she was ready for her baptismal date for this coming saturday. it was really amazing and as i bore my testimony to her about how she was ready i felt so so happy. i really have a love for the investigators here and i am so excited when i see the changes and the happiness in their lives. she is very ready for her baptism and as i was talking about the blessings and the changes in her life i felt the spirit and the joy of this work so powerfully. i am very blessed to be here and to be a missionary. i have been able to see miracles and see the hand of the lord in this work and i have receieved so much help. my spanish isnt perfect but it is gettting a lot better and i can teach everything pretty well and understand most things. there are only a few times now where i really feel like i wish i could speak spanish as well as english, and those times are the times when i want to basically speak very forcefully with people that are closed and its probably better that i dont say anything anyway. I am happy and loving my time here in mexico as a missionary and am so greatful for all of the blessings that i have. i hope that you all have a great next week and have a great valentines day as well.

love,

elder smith