Chapter 53: Happy 4th of July!
The Bishop and Ivan
-Los hombres jovenes e Ivan del Barrio Manantial
-Left to right: Me, Ivan's mom, Ivan, the Pastor, Elder Knowlton
-Bishop, Ivan, My comp and I
4th of July:
Had a great 4th of July, wore a really big hat for the video call home and knee-high American Flag socks. It was hype. Ate hot dogs the night before on an interchange with Elder Rechis, and played some patriotic music on the recorder and ukulele. Good times.
Pastor at our baptism:
Our boy Ivan got baptized! It was awesome!! After talking to his mom again, she said she's really seen a change for good in her son and was willing to support him! She also said she'd like to attend the baptism and asked if it'd be ok to invite her pastor! We said yes, of course. So what d'ya know, the pastor(a) shows up with Ivan's mom to the baptism! It was awesome. She was really respectful and after the baptism got to know our Bishop a little bit and they exchanged phone numbers and everything. It was hype.
Ivan's also doing really well, I've seen this kid come a long way to where he is now. I'd also like to testify of the power of seminary, because my two converts in this area really started making changes in their lives when they started attending seminary. It's so great to see the support that the ward gives to us and to the people we teach, we wouldn't have half of the results we do without them.
Lilian and Gerson are going off
So here's a story:
3 years ago, a teenage girl named Alison got baptized. Alison is now 15 years old. 5 people live in her home: Her mom, Lilian; her stepdad Gerson, 5 year-old half sister, and the maid/nanny. The thing is, a few months ago there began to be some struggles in the family, Alison is having a hard few teenage years. In an attempt to improve her relationship with her daughter, Lilian decided it'd be great to all start going to her evangelist church together. But after a few weeks of that, Alison really did not like that church. So this wonderful mother Lilian made one of the best decisions of her life: to try attending Alison's church (aka the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Soooo three weeks ago Lilian, Alison, and the maid all came to church! We've been having weekly Family Home Evenings with the family and the Bishop these last few weeks and they've been going really well!
The thing is, Gerson, the dad, hasn't exactly shown too much interest, but at least he attends the FHE that we've been doing. Last Monday, we decided to commit Lilian and Gerson to baptism... AND THEY BOTH ACCEPTED!! They're on date for August 3rd. Unfortunately, Gerson kinda started giving some excuses as to why he wouldn't be able to come to church... which made me a little sad because if he doesn't go to church he can't get baptized...
So fast forward to Saturday's baptism. We had learned last week that Lilian is actually Ivan's aunt so she came with Alison to Ivan's baptism! And after the baptism, the bishop invited Ivan, some youth, the Elders, and Alison and her mom to dinner! So we went to dinner and Lilian ran home really quick to go bring Gerson and their daughter along as well! At dinner, Bishop invited Gerson to go play church ball with him (soccer, not basketball) and he went and had a good time! And then...
GERSON CAME TO CHURCH WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!
I'm so stoked to see what's in store for this precious family, Gerson really loved sacrament meeting and Lilian was nearly in tears when she told us how grateful she was to have her whole family in church together! So we have another FHE with them tonight, I'm really looking forward to that.
So it's been a really good week, we still have lots of progressing investigators coming to church, we've got a goal of 3 baptisms this month, and already have some good prospects for August. Like I said before, its to great to have so much support from the ward! I love this area and I love the Gospel!
Anyway that's all for this week! Love you all, make good choices!
Elder Jensen
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