Hola mi familia!
Wow! We had a great week! It was definitely a thriller and I
loved every second of it! I don’t know where to start! I had my final zone
meeting and interview with the Trayners and its really hard to believe that
they won’t be here after the next 2 transfers! They have been great and have
taught me so much! From what Sister Trayner said, our next mission president's
wife hardly speaks any English and things will be a lot more Spanish-sided!
Time to start studying!!!
Fun story of the week! Wednesday the FBI showed up at our
door to see if we knew anything about a fugitive in the area (we think they
caught a hold of Elder Nelson's "ask the missionaries" talk from last
conference!). Initially we thought they were Jehovah’s Witnesses, but when they
pulled out the Federal Bureau of Investigation badges the mood changed a bit!
The other elders got a real kick out of it and I'm sure the neighbors just
thought they were "older" missionaries (Elder Paulsen jokes all the
time...that since we’re in a car...people probably confuse us for the feds a
lot!.).
Ohio moment of the week: Saw a man wearing a shirt that said
"Proud Ohio State Dad" in Wal-Mart!
Things with Juan are going great! We're teaching him the new
member lessons as we teach his sister Vivi! She is doing great! she loves
reading from the follettos (pamphlets) for the lessons and prepares for each
lesson! she came to church for the second time this week and is keeping all her
commitments! She's a very ambitious person and is involved in a lot of work
with the city and planning events! She's 22 and Juan is 26...Juan finished the Book
of Mormon and so we were able to get him a triple and already he's in section
6! He loves to read! He's preparing for the priesthood the Sunday after
conference! I love the Quiroz family!
Ok time for Roberto! He is doing great! During the week some
doubts came up about his baptism ecause of his wife's objections to him
attending church...she lives in Mexico and is a very firm set Pentecostal. We'd
tried writing letters and doing all we could but she wouldn’t budge her
beliefs. For a while we thought this would keep him from baptism because it was
a doubt he had a hard time overcoming. Friday, however we received a phone call
from our leaders saying that President would give us permission to baptize him
if he had the desires to do it himself! This was a huge relief! After a
succession of miracles and a lot of cheerleading from our zone leaders (or pep
talking...Scott..you know how motivating zone leaders can be!). At first Elder Paulsen and I had concerns
about whether it was right to hold the baptism with such a short notice. Initially
we took the attitude of "we'll follow our leader’s counsel, and if the
Lord wants it to happen it will!"
but after another round of phone calls the attitude changed to "Let’s
get it done!" Wow! Did we get a strong answer! We were able to set up a lesson with Roberto
at the church I had the strongest impression that morning that we needed to do
all we could to help him be baptized that day. Because of a work situation he
was going to be able to go home for the weekend and spend a few full days with
his family for the first time since Christmas! We taught him the plan of
salvation and connected every point back to baptism! I could feel and see the
spirit touching Roberto's heart as Elder Paulsen bore his testimony at the end
of the lesson. That morning and afternoon in preparation we prayed as fervently
as I have my whole mission (just like when Angelina in Mercedes was fighting to
get custody of her kids back!). As we addressed Roberto's doubts we felt
impressed to promise him the Lord's help with his family and that if he were to
be obedient, he would receive all the help heaven could offer! As we invited
him to be baptized, the spirit confirmed his readiness to me! I knew without a
doubt the Lord wanted Him to be baptized that day! He accepted and an hour
later (after his interview) we filled up the font and had his baptismal
service! It was a day of miracles and it confirmed to me again how real the
door of baptism is and how much the Lord cares for each of His children! It
helped me understand too that "the Lord's time" often makes us think
we have to wait! Sometimes though, it means we need to have a greater sense of
urgency and getting things done! Both my faith and the faith of Elder Paulsen
grew a lot!
We saw Roberto again today and it was great to see how all
the pieces fit together and how things worked out the way the Lord wanted them
too! I know this is the Lords true church and that angels are around us and
bearing us up in our times of need! I know faith is a real power and we can
make great things happen when we align our will with the will of the Lord!
Con amor,
Elder Cook
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