Monday, December 12, 2011

"I am going to baptize this woman whether you like it or not!"........week 72

Dear family,

It sounds like everyone in doing wonderfully. I am glad. I hope that you all continue to have such experiences.

Well this week there is a lot to tell. First off, we had to marry a woman named Minerva which was one of the craziest things I have done in my mission. In December, nobody wants to marry people. The judges get tired and trunky for vacations. We ran all around Acapulco looking for someone who could help us. We found our miracle in the form of a contact from one of our investigators. We were blessed with miracles after miracles with the right people being there at the right time. From Monday to Friday we were seriously running from one place to another until they were married. We had her baptism Saturd ay at 8:00 PM. The funniest part was that we were running back from a service project and we raced into our apartment to change and get to the baptism on time. As I was showering all the sudden everything began to shake. I knew that I had been really stressed out but when my companion told me ¨hey, we're in an earthquake!¨ I started laughing for the irony. I thought to myself ¨Satan, even if you want to kill me while I'm showering its not going to happen. I am going to baptize this woman whether you like it or not!¨

We got dressed quickly and we enjoyed a very special baptismal service.

Minerva's baptism

Apart from the miracles that had been happening for Minerva and her baptism, the Lord blessed us with a lot of people who are already ready to be baptized. We told the Lord this week that we are here for Him. We are here to baptize. If He wants us to baptize, we are going to do all we can but He´s got to do His part. Well, He did it :)

One experience really special was Friday in the afternoon. After the wedding, Minerva and her husband invited us to go eat at McDonald´s (its a big thing here :) ) As we were eating a member family greeted us and sat at another table. After eating I wanted to get to know them and I presented myself to them. They told me that they were the Nuñez family. The father said that he had served a mission in Honduras in 2002 to 2004. I asked him what mission and he said Comayaguela (if I spelt it right) I then asked if he knew an Elder Russell. He paused, looked me in the eyes and told me, ¨Your brother is Elder Russell?¨ He then explained, ¨ I am Elder Nuñez, your brother was my Zone leader in an area named La Paz. It is a privilege.¨ I have to tell you the truth family, I was deeply honored. I thought you would like to know Troy. Brother Nuñez lives here in a ward named Coloso that pertains to our Zone/Stake. After making the connection, he welcomed me to his family and wanted that his family would know who I was. As Mom always says, ¨That´s right, I´m cool.¨ It was a great honor to know that the Russell Family extends all the way to Acapulco Mexico even before I ever came.

The work is progressing a whole lot. God is doing His work through us. It is evident. We are working with a lot of families that we have planned for Christmas. This week is going to be huge to see if they will be baptized.

I had a very special experience this Sunday. One of the biggest lessons that I have taken from my mission is how to administer in the Church. I am always anxious and very excited to learn more about how to better bring about better the work of Salvation. Something that I have always wanted to know is how to effectively coordinate the work of salvation within a meeting like Ward Counsel. We were invited to attend ward counsel for other issues but the representative from the High Council who works with missionary work in the Stake (a really good friend of ours :) ) came and showed how it should be done. I was so excited to see that it is easy and it works. It was a tender mercy of the Lord. I understood clearly how an organization could function effectively within a ward to bring about the salvation. I saw clearly that this was a capacitacion (training) from the First Presidency and I received a testimony that it was so. So sweet!

Well family, take care. May the Lord continue to bless you as you work in His vineyard. It is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Russell