5 de Enero, 2015
Happy 2015 all y'all! How are you all doing?? Pretty crazy
thinking that it's 2015 already no??? Seems like just yesterday that we were
only half way through 2013 and I was about to come on the mission! How things
have changed! But I'm so glad for everything that has happened!
2015 started super great! Lots of heat, lots of lessons,
and, the most exciting part.... A BAPTISM!
This last week was pretty great. On Tuesday we had exchanges
with the Elders and I got to go work with Elder P in his area. His area is
super sweet. Except for the fact that it is all sand. It can be so tiring
walking in sand. It's ten times harder than walking in dirt. And it gets super
hot in the sun. But you gotta do what you gotta do! It was a pretty fun day
though. Elder P is a great elder. We taught a few less-active members and a few
lessons to investigators! At the end of the day we had a pretty
out-of-the-ordinary experience. It was kind of late so we decided to go back to
the apartment in a moto taxi. We climbed into a moto taxi and told the driver
where we were going and he started to drive, but he wasn't driving normally. He
was driving super slow. And then he started to speed up and was swerving all
over the empty road. And that's when we realized that the driver was either
drugged or he was drunk. So we had to tell him to stop and we got out and went
in a different moto taxi. We decided our lives are worth a whole lot more than
2 soles. That scared us a little bit. I don't like people driving drunk, and
unfortunately, there are lots of them here!
Wednesday was New Year’s Eve! It was a pretty good day. I
got to do a baptismal interview that day! I got to interview one of Elder P´s investigators
that was baptized on Saturday! I love doing baptismal interviews. It's pretty
cool listening to these people that are about to be baptized bear their testimony
about how the gospel has helped them in their lives! It's such a blessing to be
able to witness all these miracles taking place in these peoples’ lives!
After that interview we went to Marcavelica, which went
well. Everyone had their dummies sitting out on a chair in front of their
houses. Here everyone makes a dummy for New Years and then at midnight they
burn them. They are actually kind of funny! It's pretty cool though! Almost
every single house in Marcavelica had a dummy. And they fill them with fire
crackers and stuff like that for when they burn them. There are tons of
firecrackers here. And tons of bottle rockets and Roman candles and every other
type of firework that you can think of! Everyone uses them! All day long there
are little kids 6 years old lighting off firecrackers. jaja. It's crazy! After
Marcavelica we came back to our apartment at about 9 and there was no power. So
that was fun. It was hard changing and doing everything in our room without
light. But whatever! We actually lay down to sleep at about 10. But at 11:45 we
woke up and went to the roof of our apartment to watch the fireworks! There
were so many fireworks at midnight! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sweet. We live in
like the tallest building in Sullana so we could see pretty much all of
Sullana. And these people use tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of
fireworks! And then we went to bed again at about 12:20. The people here don't
sleep. They start the party at midnight and then they sit and drink and listen
to music all night long until the sun comes out. And then they keep drinking
until about 8 in the morning. And then they finally decide to sleep for a
little bit. And then at about 4 in the afternoon they start drinking again and
drink until about midnight. Honestly, I didn't like New Year's day. Everyone
was drinking. It made missionary work pretty much impossible. We passed by at a
few members though. That's probably about all we could do... I'm glad that day
has passed. Because it wasn't very cool!
 |
| Happy New Year! (from the roof of our apartment) |
The most exciting thing about this week is that T L got
baptized! He is a super special investigator! His sister has been a member for
a few years, but he wasn't really interested in the church when the
missionaries visited his sister. But they left a seed in him. And with time
that seed has grown until it was his time to accept the gospel in his life! We
had our first lesson with him over a month ago and in that lesson he said that
it was time for him to be able to come closer to God as his sister had done.
And in that lesson he chose January 3rd as the day that he wanted to be
baptized. So that means that over the last month we have been working with him
to help him get ready to be baptized! He has changed so much! Over this last
month I have grown to love him as a brother! He is amazing! He has read all of
1 Nephi and half of 2 Nephi. Since the first time that we taught him, he never
missed a Sunday at church, and he has kept all of the commitments that we
extended to him! He really is someone that was prepared for the gospel in his
life! This week he had some challenges and there were some things that made it
look like he wouldn't be able to be baptized this week. But he was determined.
January 3rd was the day he wanted to be baptized. And he wasn't going to let anything
within his control stop him from being baptized! His family came to his baptism
Saturday! His mom, who isn't a member came and supported him! It was soooooooo
cool seeing him be baptized! As he came up out of the water, he had a huge
smile on his face! It was the highlight of this week! I have no doubt that he
is going to be a strong convert in the church! He was confirmed on Sunday and
he is super excited to receive the priesthood! He talked to us about how he
knows this is just the first step and how his goal is to prepare himself to go
to the temple in Trujillo next January! I'm so happy for him! Being a
missionary is so amazing! And it's so great when you get to see the people that
you are teaching being baptized! I wouldn't trade this opportunity for all the
money in the world!
 |
| At TL's baptism! |
I'm so happy for what is in store for me! I've got 6 months
left to shine! I love being a missionary! 2013 was great. 2014 was amazing! And
2015 is going to be even better! Thanks for all the love and support that you
guys give me! Love you guys tons!
Elder Baker
P.S. This week is the last week of the transfers. And I'm
feeling like I might be transferred this weekend. I'm not sure though. The good
thing though is that R is going to be baptized on Saturday if everything works
out! Pray for him lots!
No comments:
Post a Comment