Hey fam, friends - all!
SO this week was pretty slow going until Saturday hit... Then BOOM. Haha.
During the week I had a division. I went with Elder Walker in his area in Ciudad Cordova, here in Cali. He has less time than me in the mission, but he only got lost
like 2 times. Haha Poor guy. He's awesome, though. I love teaching with him. Anyway,
normal week until Friday night. Jaison called me and told me he didn't want to get
baptized... So Saturday morning we went to his house and found him and Ingrid,
his girlfriend, there. We sat down talked for a bit, and then started a serious
talk. I talked to him and told him that he was just scared, but it's normal to be
scared before something like this. He told me "No, no, no, I can't." I have been
teaching him since I got here, and there are quite a few reasons why he wouldn't
be baptized. But I was getting tired of being in this cycle with him, so I
straight up told him, "I'm baptizing you today, and Ingrid, if you feel like you
would like to be baptized today, I'll baptize you as well, but I'm baptizing Jaison
today..." They looked at each other, asked for a minute, and then 2 or 3 minutes
after came back and asked me, "What time?" I said, "We will do it at 3'o'clock today" (
in 3 or 4 hours). So Elder Caja and I ran out of the house to go grab the Bishop's
keys, grab baptismal clothes, get to the chapel to fill the baptism font - all in 3
hours. Elder Caja set off the church alarm when we went to fill the baptismal
font - it was such a crazy 3 hours. Anyway, we got the baptismal font going, got
members informed, and went and picked up Jaison and Ingrid.
We picked them up, and
on the way to get in a taxi, Jaison's dad showed up, and I was like "Ohhhh noooo."
Jaison's dad isn't a fan, and is one of the reasons for him not getting baptized, etc.
But Jaison told him, "I'm going to get baptized, "and hopped in the taxi. I was
super proud of him! So we got to the church, got them some baptismal clothes, and
had a really nice baptismal service. There weren't tons of people, but the spirit
was super strong. Jaison gave me a big hug after I pulled him out of the water
with tears in his eyes. I had to baptize Ingrid twice - her hand came out of the
water haha! It's all good though. Super cool. Jaison's mom even showed up for the
baptism. So Sunday morning for the confirmation I was at the sacrament table to
bless the sacrament when the meeting started, and Jaison and Ingrid hadn't shown
up... Man, I was stressin' like nuts - praying my hardest. Right as the bishop
called Jaison and Ingrid names to come up and get confirmed, they walked in...
WHEW. So we started with Ingried. Elder Wilcox confirmed her, and then it was Jaison's turn. The
bishop asked me to do it. So I confirmed Jaison (in front of everybody) a member
of the church with a blessing. My first confirmation. My hands were shaking
pretty bad. Anyway, Saturday and Sunday were great and stressful, too.
Today is Elder Cajas birthday, so we baked some brownies, bought some candles, and sang
happy birthday with Elder Wilcox and Zambrano. It was pretty chill. Sorry I don't
have much time. Gotta cut it short, but all in all a pretty good week. Anyway, I
love you all, and I'll send some pics, too! Have a good week everybody. I'm grateful
for all the prayers and support. Hey, go to the temple this week if you feel
overwhelmed. I felt overwhelmed this week a few times, and I wish I could go to
the temple, but my prayers and scripture study always help as well. I love you
all. Have a good week!
Elder Dean.
After the baptism: Elder Dean, Ingrid, Jaison, Jaison's Mom, Elder Caja
Ingrid, Elder Dean, Jaison
Elder Caja- the birthday boy.
No comments:
Post a Comment