December 17, 2012

It's beginning to feel a lot like...boating season  haha

How is everything going back home.  Things are going pretty well here.
The exciting news of the week... WE HAD A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY!! 
It was a great experience.  Her name is Ely.  She is someone that the
missionaries had been teaching when I got here.  She had a rather
weird mix of ideas when they started teaching her.  She is a very
intellectual person, which made it hard for her to understand things
with the idea that God exists.  However, as she started to learn, read
the Book of Mormon, and pray, she received an answer that she could
trust in.  That doesn't mean that it was all easy from that point on,
but she knew that she had received an answer from God and knew that
the things that she was learning were true.  It was a great spiritual
experience on the day of her baptism.  One miracle that happened was
that the day of her baptism, the sister missionaries who are also
serving in our branch invited one of their investigators to attend.
When she arrived, she instantly recognized Ely, who was an old
classmate many years ago.  She excitedly greeted her and said to her,
"You're the one who's getting baptized today?  I'm getting baptized on
January 5th!"  Then during the baptismal service, you could tell that
she was greatly touched by the Holy Ghost and knew that that was what
she as well needed to do.  Experiences like that are just really
special.

Unfortunately, I don't have my camera cord with me, so I'll have to
send the pictures next week, but I do have one picture of my with
companion, Elder Vásquez, as we were walking home from lunch which I
will send.

Alright I hope all is great, and keep me updated with everything going
on back home.

Have a great week,
Elder Stollenwerk