Another week down in the mission field. This week was a lot better for me. I am definitely starting to get accustomed to life here. I also had my first baptism! It was super awesome. I’ll just go through my week and talk about some of my experiences.
Last Sunday was interesting. After the sacrament we got called up to give a talk. Obviously my Spanish isn’t great yet so I just introduced myself and bore my testimony. It was crazy to stand up there and realize that here I am in a foreign land with people who I’ve never met and who don’t speak my language, yet we can share and relate to the gospel and that is the same everywhere. I testify that the truth is in all parts of the earth.
Our p-day on Monday was super fun. We decided to take a bus into Piura to go to one of the malls. The mall in the middle of Piura is crazy nice. It really sticks out compared to the rest of the city. It was like walking back into America. They had a bunch of stores like H&M and a ton of American restaurants like KFC and Pizza Hut. It was super fun to walk through all the stores and feel like I was back home for a little while.
On Friday we had a multi-area conference in Piura with Elder Zivic of the seventy. It was super fun to go into Piura again with all the elders from my area. We had training from him for most of the morning/afternoon and then had lunch. It was super fun and a good change of pace. After the training, Elder Bayona and I went to the mission office to get some supplies and my week was made when I found a package from home! Thanks so much Mom! You’re the best. Ah, it was awesome. Anyway, Friday night we went to visit Joseph and talk about his baptism. When we asked who he wanted to baptize him, he chose me! I was so pumped. He is my first baptism! Man, what a good day.
Saturday was awesome as well. On Saturdays we usually have our district meeting. We talk about our goals and investigators and stuff like that. After that we had lunch at a member’s house which was really good. It’s funny because a lot of the people here have chickens in their houses that just roam around. But this lady had like 20 chickens just everywhere in her house as we ate. It was hilarious. Later we had the baptism of Joseph!! It was one of the coolest experiences ever. The spirit was so strong throughout the entire meeting. When it came time to do the baptism, I had a hard time saying the words because I felt the spirit so strong and was choked up a little bit. I’m so grateful for the opportunity I had to baptize Joseph. It was an experience I will never forget. After this baptism, I constantly kept thinking of the words of D&C 18:15: “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of the Father!” Thinking about the baptism of Joseph, my joy is definitely great. When I think about the importance of baptism and what it means, I can’t help but feel overwhelming joy for him. This baptism has mad me hungry for more. I want to work as hard as I can to bring as many souls as I can to the waters of baptism. It’s truly amazing. This mission is definitely a sacrifice to be away from my family, friends and home for 2 years, but when I have opportunities like the one I had on Saturday to baptize, it definitely makes it all worth it. Missionary work is truly amazing. Talk to you next week!
Nos vemos,
Elder Bailey
No comments:
Post a Comment