Surprise! A Baptism!

Well, it was kind of a slow week here until Thursday night. We had a good lesson with Irving and Diego, and at the end we asked how they were feeling about baptism. We had set a date for the 21 of October, but Irving said it would probably be better for the 28th, and Diego said he's still not ready. But then Thursday, Irving said he wanted to get baptized the 21st!!! Remember that this was Thursday night and he still had to have an interview, and we hadn't organized ANYTHING. But he wanted it for this Saturday, so we organized!!

Friday we emptied and cleaned the baptismal font, and then walked what felt like a million miles for the rest of the day. We were so so so tired that day. Saturday morning Irving passed his interview, and we finished cleaning the church, then Saturday afternoon he was baptized!! Hna Inmunda and I gave the talks and did the musical number. I played the violin and Hna Inmunda and some girls from JAS (young single adults) sang. Irving's mom and two sisters came, and Diego too. It was a really spiritual baptismal service, and it was great to see Irving in a white shirt and tie. He always came to church in jeans and a sweatshirt, but we talked about it and now he'll go with a shirt and tie. 

Sunday was the national census, so we had to be in our room from 8am until 5pm. it was SO BORING. We did personal and companion study, planned our day, did weekly planning, organized the area book, and played lots of rounds of UNO in between. But i was kind of dying. 

This morning in personal study I was studying 2 Nephi 2 and it's really, really awesome. It talks about the atonement, agency, and the plan of salvation. There’s one line from verse 13 that I really liked: "And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness." Keeping the commandments truly makes us happy, and I love verse 8: "Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise."

I love being a missionary of Jesus Christ and making these things known unto the inhabitants of Granados. The church is true!!

Us with Irving

Irving with his family

Irving and his girlfriend (I'll be waiting for a pic like this in front of the temple in 1 year)

The Church is True!! Tell Everyone!

Well, this week there was ANOTHER world cup qualifier. Peru tied again and again there was no one. So we visited an older lady in the ward who doesn't watch soccer. 

We had a super awesome zone conference this week. President and Hna Marble talked about the power of the Book of Mormon and showed a video that BYU professors and students made.  They went to different cities all over the world, had a display in a public place, and asked a bunch of people to read one page of the Book of Mormon, highlight the references to God or Jesus Christ, and share their impressions. It was pretty powerful. The Book of Mormon truly speaks for itself! 

We’ve had good lessons with Irving and Diego again but we'll have to wait another week or two for their baptisms. We also had two really super great lessons with Napoleon and his wife Pilar. She seems a lot more open and receptive now and they committed to a new baptismal date. We are excited to see lots of miracles this transfer. 

I found more awesome President Monson quotes this week. "Fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith...don't lose your faith, because the lord has not lost faith in you." The church is true!!!! Tell everyone!

We had a family home evening with a member family and made pizza!

Proselyting during soccer game = ineffective

Tuesday was the world cup qualifier between Peru and Argentina, so EVERYONE was shut up in their houses watching the game and didn't want to listen to us. I thought for sure that Peru would lose, but they tied 0-0. So during the game we contacted the 3 people that were not watching. 

Diego and Irving are doing well, they read the Book of Mormon and are still praying about baptism. We had a really awesome lesson with them about faith and our noche de hogar (FHE) in their house went really well. Diego didn't make it to church yesterday, but they're going with us to another noche de hogar (FHE) tonight. I feel like they're kind of Heavenly Father's gift to us after months of working hard with not many results. They are open and willing to learn, keep commitments, and are just really nice and respectful and are just good people. 

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on. I found a quote the other day by President Monson that I love.

"Today there are hearts to gladden, kind words to say, deeds to be done, and souls to be saved."

That is our job as missionaries, and the job of everyone else as well. Gladden hearts!! Say kind words!! Do good deeds!! And save souls!!! The church is true.

Kissing a lizard

Service

my companion complains that i don't ever take normal pictures haha

General Conference

Well, it's been another week here in Granados. I got to have an intercambio (exchange) with Hermana Lee which was the best! I also got to watch Saturday conference in English with three other gringas!! Conference is such a blessing, every single talk had something that I needed to hear.

So on Sunday, we had four investigators at the morning session of conference. Irving and Diego went, and we went with Aura and her two daughters. They are 3 and 8 years old and it was terrible!! The 8 year old was bored, so she was trying to talk to us through the whole meeting, and obviously the 3 year old was bored too, and at one point we had to separate the two so they wouldn't fight, and Aura got mad at the 3 year old and made her cry. Needless to say we were very happy when that session was over and we watched the afternoon session in peace. 

Irving and Diego are doing really well!! Diego has almost finished  2nd Nephi and they are both praying about baptism. The bishop went with us to visit them last night and that was a super great lesson. We have a noche de hogar (FHE) with them and some members tonight, and we're planning on October 21 for their baptism! 

Funny: so Hna Inmunda has told me various times that I talk in my sleep (which is not new), but that whenever she's heard me sleep talk, that I’m speaking in Spanish and teaching someone or inviting someone to be baptized! If that's not a 100% dedicated missionary, I don't know what is!!! hahaha  

So Elder Holland's talk on Saturday was one of my favorites. Lots of times I feel inadequate and that I’m not doing well enough, but his talk was a perfect answer to my doubts.

"Every one of us aspires to a more Christlike life than we often succeed in living. If we admit that honestly and are trying to improve, we are not hypocrites; we are human. May we refuse to let our own mortal follies...make us cynical about the truths of the gospel, the truthfulness of the Church, our hope for the future, or the possibility of godliness. If we persevere, then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete. …"

Love,

Hermana Stevenson

  a peruvian dog

 eating a pb&j sandwhich (thanks to packages from mom and grandma)

eating lunch between conference sessions with our mission leader and his fam