Another Baptism

Great week for Elder Harvey! Enjoy!

Hello Family,

     I have so much to share, and do not know where to start, so I apologize if I jump from one subject to the next. I would also like to apologize for any spelling errors that I may have becuase Spanish is really growing on me. Okay, I will begin. We had a wonderful Baptismal service just last night. Hermana Arce was Baptized. She had a date forAugust 25th, but just a wweek and a half ago, we changed it to August 18th, because she was ready. We have only been teaching her for three weeks or so and she started progressing from day one. She is a mother of four children and we are still trying to teach them, as they are not as receptive to the message. They will come around. We also managed to have three other families whom we are teaching come to the Baptism as well. There were more investigators at the Baptism then there were investigators almost. My companion, Elder Flake baptized Hermana Arce and he did a great job. Hermana Arce did not care who Baptized her, so we decided that Elder Flake should do it for a couple reasons, 1) he had never Baptized someone before, and 2) it will not be long before he recieves his VISA and heads down to Argentina. We came to the conclusion that this would be a great opportunity for him before he leaves for Argentina. The Baptism went very smoothly although we had a couple bumps in the road during preperation. After church, Elder Flake decided to make a dozen cookies and a tray of brownies for the Baptism and long story short, it was a disaster. The brownies came out great, but after, while preparing the cookies, Elder Flake used the brownie box instructions to make the cookies.. on accident of course. The finished product of the cookie dough after much stirring, made Elder Flake very confused. It was no where near what it should look like. Although we ruined the cookies, we still had the brownies, but we knew that was not going to be enough, so we called our Ward mission leader. If I have not told you this before, we have the best Ward mission leader in the world. He saved us by bringing two seperate desserts that made it just enough for everyone that came to the Baptism. Now that all is done with, the disaster cookies is now just something to look back on and laugh. I am grateful for the amount of investigators that came to the Baptism though. We found a solid new family this past week that came to church and to the Baptism. That was a miracle in itself.

 

We also had zone conference last week which went really well. At zone conference, we recieve inspiration for our area and our investigators while being taught by the Assistants, President Bowen and Sister Bowen. Much revelation was recieved. The zone conference was basically reviewing all that we have learned as districts and zones over the past 6 months. We were also shown that results from our efforts. Our averages in all the key indicators have increased tremendously as the bar for missionary work has been set higher then ever before. This mission right now is on FIRE! Our companionship has five investigators with Baptismal dates for September, but we might Baptize three of them next week; Familia Sanchez. Their date is for September 15th, but their progression in the Gospel this past week brought the thought of inviting them to be Baptized next week. When one recieves a confirmation that the church is true and they have no doubts, there is no reason to wait. We will be having a family home evening with Familia Sanchez tonight at the church and our hopes for them to be Baptized sooner will be brought up. 

 

This week is the last week of the transfer; WEEK 6. I am nervous for transfers once again. We recieve the call Saturday night, and I have no idea what is going to happen. Any one of us could leave. One could leave, two could leave or all of us could leave. I will tell you what though, none of us want to leave. I feel that transfers can be one of the hardest things that happens to a missionary. As I put my whole heart into every aspect of the work, I quickly build a love for the people we are teaching, the Ward members and also my companions. I know also that whatever happens at transfers is according to Gods will. We are assigned to specific areas for specific transfers for many reasons. It truly is almost like recieving a mission call again, but the options are limited obviously and it is a telephone call from the zone leaders, not a letter from the First Presidency. I still get nervous for transfers and always will get nervous. 

 

I believe that is all for this week. This is the work of the Savior. I know that He lives. I know that Jesus Christ is the head of the church and directs it through a living Prophet today. How blessed are we? My gratitude for my Heavenly Father can only be expressed by my efforts in fulfilling His work and glory. I love being a missionary. I cherish being a representative of Jesus Christ and I will always stnad worthy for such a calling. Until next week, take care everyone.

 

-Elder Harvey