pictures are of baptism. the three girls were our baptisms and the guy with a tie is a member going to his mission in spain on my birthday jan 4th and he baptized his cousin who is the other guy in the picture, we played soccer last munday in the rain and it was a lot of fun. the americaans vs the mexicans and we won 15 to 5, and then this is the highway to nacajuca that is all flooded even with the sand bags down. it was almost all sunny this week though.
this week was a very good week and was full of miracles and very special moments. I am very happy to be able to be here in my area and to be an instrument in the hands of the lord to complete his work. Starting from last sunday when we had the lesson with yuridia and norma where at the start they said they were catholic and then changed and accepted a date to be baptized this week. we went with them a lot this week. When we taught the commandments i was a little scared theyd have a problem. they accepted everything perfectly and there was a great spirit there. they got an answer from god and nothing was going to change that. even the day after when one of the friends of yuridia put coffee up to her face and tempted her to have some, she said no! we also went with them one day and watched the joseph smith movie. it was a really powerful lesson where i bore my testimony and where we talked a lot about their progress and the change that has happened in their lives. yuri said something that was really great that she was so thankful for us talking to her. We were talking to a worker outside her house when i decided to talk to her so she wouldnt think we were just waisting the workers time. we set up an appointment, they came to church, they accepted a baptismal date and were prepared 100% by god for this change. she said it was a change she knew she was prepared for and needed but she just didnt know that she needed it until it happened. She is super strong and im excited to have her come to lessons with us to help less actives and investigators. the baptismal service was really great. I got to baptize yuridia and elder peine baptized Norma (sister of yuridia 11 years old) and Natividad (16 and works in house of a member). The elders in our district baptized a man who is the cousin of a member getting ready for his mission. We decided to do the service after church because it is always so hard to get ppl there saturday. the room was super full. we couldnt even sit down and there wre more ppl waiting outside! i played the guitar and sang Te necesito si. which is I need thee every hour. it went really well and i felt the spirit. the baptisms went pretty well, but the elders who filled the faunt didnt put enough water in. only up to the middle of my thigh and so we had to do a few over again, but it was good all in all. I was super happy the whole day and over and over i keep saying how exicted i am for them all. I am so grateful for the hand of the lord in this work and know that it is by him and through him, that ppl are converted.
something really cool about sunday as well is that Judith was confirmed. it took a few weeks but finally she is confirmed a member. the miracle of that is that we saw her saturday and she said everything was good for church. i felt like i should call her sunday but she didnt answer so i sent her a message and called her again, and then when we were about to leave i said well we'll just go check her house. we invited her to come with us to church in a car and she said it was perfect because she was going to go in a taxi but realized she didnt have any money. she was already dressed and everything and her kids as well and we all went together.
Natividad´s baptism was also a miracle that we werent planning on. when we were in a lesson she opened up and said why she didnt get baptized before. it was because someone had called her and told her she shouldnt. she wanted to but then in the end didnt for that. she said she still wanted to and felt good about everything. nati is very very very veeeeeeeeeeery shy. i think especially around two white guys. so she doesnt talk a whole lot unless we really get it out of her but her prayers are always amazing and she says everything she needs to. in one prayer she gave as she finished she began to cry. that was the first real emotion ive seen from her and she said she'd never felt that when praying before. she felt the spirit super powerfully and then next time we came we gave her a date for this sunday. God is answering our prayers and the prayers of our investigators.
this sunday we also found a family of 5. we contacted the guy and he made a big fuss that the last time other missionaries talked to him they never came by, so i basically went by so he wouldnt think bad of us but wasnt expecting anything. we were able to put him and his family on date to be baptized in three weeks . i hope they will keep that date.
we also found a less active hermana named delphina that i think is like 50 but she has a lot of neighbor friends and now is super excited about sharing the gospel and church. she hadnt gone in a really really long time, but now is going to be super strong. she has so far invited 4 of her neighbors and two came this week to church and said they liked it a lot. they are two girls that are 14 and 18. the hermana delphina goes and like hangs out with them at movies and to eat and stuff which is really funny but very much her personality. her husband is away a lot for work and i think she likes having friends. we will probably be able to have Maria and Elidia the two girls to be baptized in these coming weeks. Almost all our investigators that are progressing now are girls. but we have had a lot of guys too but they have fallen off, and we have a few really great families too. one family that is great but hasn't come to church yet so we'll see. they invited us to dinner last night though and are really great ppl.
there have been a bunch of other really great things, i need to start keeping a list so i remember and can write fast. today i took elder peine to buy a guitar. he bought a pretty nice one and so now we can play together. i was interested because someone in utah gave me a little toy harmonica with ten notes, in finding a good harmonica and so today i bought one that has 20 holes and a button that shifts everything a half step. im going to try and learn a little bit. it looks pretty cool, but note sure ill get to use it too much here.
well i love you all and miss you very much. everything here is awesome and i'm really learning a lot and having some great experiences. have a great next week.
love
elder smith
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