Tuesday, December 12, 2017

The Lord Has His Hand In All Things

Well, it wasn't easy but we got Gladys´ baptism to go through! This whole week they have been doing construction around the church building, and when we tried filling up the font on Saturday before the baptism, the water started coming out all dirty, so we had to cancel the baptism and get things figured out. some people had to come fix the pipes and all, and so we changed it to Sunday morning before church. Luckily, Gladys took it well, and didnt have any problems. In fact, when we swung by her house Saturday afternoon to tell her we would need to reschedule it for the next morning, she told us it was ok, because she had had a dream the night before where something had happened with the water and she couldn't get baptized. So she was happy when she found out we could still do it the next morning, because she was worried about not making the temple trip this week with the ward. I felt bad though because one of our investigators had actually changed her work schedule to be able to make it to the baptism, because she wanted to see it. Bummer. But the most important thing is that Gladys was baptized, and it was really amazing. Elder Peterson got to baptize her and I got to confirm her that same day, which was cool, because it was the first time I had ever done so.

We had division with the zone leaders this week, and it was really great. Elder Honorato went with Elder Peterson to our area, and I went to Barrio 5. They got [...] with a baptismal date for January 6th too. Afterwards, Elder Honorato told me, ´Well, her parents may not bring her to church, but she will sure bring them to church´ haha. She is a really special little nine year old. She came with her great-grandma on Sunday, and apparently really loves church. Man, I sure  can´t remember sitting very reverently when I was nine :). 

Today for P-day, we went to talk to Gladys a little about the temple trip, and wanted to see if her granddaughter Belen could give us a haircut, since that is what she does for work. Well right when we got there and asked, Belen said ´ Perfect, we were actually just about to start a teaching class, and we need someone to practice on!´ Haha, so we just went with it. She had like 15 people crammed in this room haha. BUT- it was awesome! First off, she said it was free, since it was for a class. Next, we got our heads washed and massaged three times each. Then, when I got my haircut, two people were cutting it at the same time. Haha wierd, but it turned out solid :)

Also, it was really awesome because just yesterday, Gladys was at another granddaughter´s house in Barrio Torres, when the missionaries over there, Elder Parsons and Elder Tholstrom came over for a charla! Her name was [...] but apparently Gladys helped a lot in the lesson and now she wants to get married and baptized too!! And on top of that, I guess in Ferro Carrill the missionaries just contacted her boyfriend (without receiving a reference or anything), who said he would accept the charlas! So everything is coming together in T-Bo :) To me, it is amazing how the Lord guides his servants to where the should be and when, to fulfill his eternal purposes!! I love this work. I am so grateful to have seen Gladys get baptized this week! Anyways, thanks for all of your letters. Have an awesome week everyone!


Elder Layton

Baptisms of Facundo and Lucia

Hola mis queridos familiarers y amigos!

Well, we were able to have two baptisms on Saturday! Wooooh! Facundo and Lucia both got baptized, and it was such a neat experience! And the ward was so supportive! The baptismal service seriously looked just like a normal sacrament meeting, and then everyone had to squeeze in the Priesthood room for the actual baptisms haha. 

[...] is doing well too. We only saw her once this week, but she has been reading the BOM and already told us she feels it is true. We talked a little about marriage, and she actually took it really well! She said she would talk to her partner and that she doesn´t think he will have any problems with it, which is really awesome because they already have a few kids together. The only downside though is apparently the marriage could take a while because I guess the judge who would have to legally sign off on it is going on vacation until mid-January. I don´t really know how all of that works, but a few people have told us that, so that is lame haha.

Anyways, [...] is doing AMAZING! She is sooooo prepared, and seriously such a miracle. We had our first charla this week, and when we got there, she showed us that she already started reading the BOM we left her with on Sunday from the start, had prayed about it and that she knows it is true! And on top of that, she read both pamphlets we gave her, and 13 chapters of the Gospel Principles book from Sunday! She is suuuuper awesome. She wanted to know the absolute soonest that she could be baptized, and so she accepted a baptismal date for December 9th. And on top of that, she has been totally showing us up on missionary work haha. She apparently has been talking to a lot of her family and friends about the Gospel already, and gave us a few references after the first visit. She even went to go clean the church on Wednesday with the Relief Society, came to the baptisms on Saturday, and to church on Sunday, again with her little great granddaughter. She is already so excited about baptism!!

We have changes this week, and sadly, the whole district is getting torn apart :( Only Elder Peterson and I are staying. Elder Heaton and hermana Hibbert are both finishing their missions and Elder Ribeiro is going to be the new AP. It was a super awesome district :) Lots of fun. Gonna miss these guys!

Elder Layton