Sending home pictures in white! It was rather a surprise for me as well. That was a little crazy, considering that Arturo accepted tithing on Tuesday, passed his interview on Thursday, and only on Friday agreed to go through with it. (He was also a bit sick and concerned about his health, but we assured him that we'd have everything nice and warm, etc.) To be honest, I had assumed that we would wait until the next week to baptize him, but our leaders had other thoughts and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. We were very, very blessed to be able to pull everything together. We had a lot of members come to support him, and he and his wife are very happy.
I know that it had a lot to do with your thoughts and prayers- thank you for your support. Even though it all came together really quickly, it felt so right and I wasn't overly stressed. I felt more eternally aware than in the other baptismal services we've had, and I spent a long time laying awake that night thinking about how it all fits together. This life is such a small moment, and every stage within it just a breath of the love and experience that God wants us to have. Each person we meet and know plays a role in eventual progression, if we'll only let them. It was one of those life-changing moments, like the flash of a picture that strikes deep in the heart and lingers in the mind. He is a very tender man and really showed the change that this is in his life.
We also saw some great progress in the branch. This week Presidente Flores, from Cauquenes Centro, was sustained as an additional counselor and stayed for the meeting with us. We had our first consejo (like ward council) after the meetings, and Presidente invited whoever would like to come to help us plan our 18 de Septiembre activity. We had a good turnout, and discussed more about leadership in the branch, the activity, etc. Perhaps the thing that makes me the most happy is that our Relief Society president, Hermana Laura, accepted her calling again!!
She turned in her keys about a month ago, supposedly very discouraged by the lack of support in the branch. Ever since I've been here, she has been busy caring for her sick mother, but she improved a bit and we were finally able to go visit her on Thursday. We heard her conversion story, and I tried to encourage her, expressing our desires to serve and support the branch. Secretly, I was hoping she'd say that she'd take up her calling again and help us, but she told us to keep on serving and to support the new president. Sunday- Hermana Nájera and I were able to give talks in Sacrament meeting, and she came up to talk with me after, saying how inspired she felt by my talk, and then in consejo she told us all that she'd like to keep serving. I was so thrilled!!
Other little good news is that we had an hermana offer to give us lunch that has never given lunch to the missionaries before! It is a small thing, but I'm very happy that she feels an afinity with us and can now receive the blessings of participating more in missionary work.
Enjoying some ice cream
Osvaldo is good to go for this Saturday. We're trying to win his family so that they'll also assist the service, and I really hope so!! We're probably going to ask the Elders to give him a blessing of health, considering that both of his legs have ulcers and that one of his hips is bad. It'll be an experience to get him under and out of that water, but he is so dear and so committed to go through with it.
To give a little summary of my talk, I used Elder Holland's talk "Lord, I Believe" from this General Conference. He gives us a guide to build our faith, and as missionaries, members of the church, and individuals who seek personal happiness, we need to have a fundamental belief in three people. 1. Ourselves 2. Other people 3. Jesus Christ.
If we are to progress spiritually, we must believe in ourselves. We must believe that God forgives, that we can one day become what He wants us to be. It is this belief that will sustain us in our darker days. We also must believe in the inherent goodness and potential of the people who surround us. Like President Monson says, we must see them as they may become. Though they'll make mistakes, though they'll drive us crazy sometimes, they are spiritual sons and daughters of God, just like us, trying to grow and progress. We need them and cannot be perfected without loving and serving the people that God puts in our path.
And of course, we must have our foundation built on our saving rock, Jesus Christ. He is the one that makes it possible to believe in a better future, to believe that others can overcome the weaknesses that sometimes we are so quick to see. Through Him and His expiatory sacrifice, we are made whole. We are made clean, but only if we believe. We must believe that He is greater than our darkest sin and grander than our deepest sorrow. We must believe that what He asks us to do, He does out of love and concern for our eternal welfare. We must love Him.
Love you all so much,
Hermana Oldroyd
Sister Nájera, Aturo, his daughter, and Erica
Berta, Arturo and the ward mission leader Nikolas
The famous breakfast mug- inside is either raspberry yogurt and granola, maybe a chopped banana, or oatmeal with lots of sugar. Yum!
Peanut butter available at the local store, at last!
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