We were super busy all week as well, and were out working until 10 a couple of the nights. The seminary teacher here got back from his mission a year ago. As well as the young mens president. It's a bit different than in Oregon haha! We have 2 baptism on Saturday so I'm super excited for that!! After 3 months of working hard, we're going to see the fruits of our labors. The ward has been super happy with us though, since it's been pretty dead as far as missionary work goes. We've had at least 5 investigators in sacrament meeting for the last 5 weeks, so hopefully we'll get some more baptisms. We walked a lot this week, and today all we did was stay at home, sleep, and play Monopoly to try to recover a bit haha.
8/28/2017
This past week we had a beautiful baptism service for two 9 year old
twins! Their family was less active in the ward, but after a few months
working with them and getting them reactivated, their father was able
to baptize them. It's amazing how much more united and strengthened
their family has become since returning to the church. I have a
testimony that this church is true, and it blesses families. I also
have a testimony that the Priesthood of God is real, and that it was
restored to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that
through this power we can perform baptisms and other necessary
ordinances to return to our Heavenly Father. I love you all and hope
you have a great week!
Elder Cherpeski
Oh, and somehow a snake came up our drain... Mexico is the best!!! :D We kill cockroaches everyday, and I actually prefer the snake over them haha!
The days leading up to the baptism were pretty crazy! Nobody in Celaya
had the baptism jumpsuits! The wards didn't have them, or the
missionaries. Eventually we ended up having to take a bus out to
Cortazar, which is the furthest out part of our zone, because they had
two medium jumpsuits. It was a pretty wild adventure with the font as
well. This week absolutely flew by and I can't believe I'm already
here again emailing. The yard looks a lot better as well as the
bathroom! We keep getting invited to Cenar (eat dinner) with different
families, so I finally don't feel like I'm losing a lot of weight haha.
Yesterday we got invited to a birthday party for the grand daughter of
one of our investigators and they asked me to sing happy birthday in
English. I did, and everybody was recording me. It made me a little
nervous, but I thought it was kinda funny since English sounds so dull
compared to Spanish. Our investigators Damian papa, and Damian son have
been doing great!!! They're both extremely intelligent, and have been
reading the Book of Mormon together. They're in 2nd Nefi 24, but the
interesting thing is that they're not just reading it, they're studying
it! They use the footnotes and have study journals! I think they study
harder than us... Life here is going great!
9/8/2017
Hi.
Just wanted to let you all know that our missionaries are safe. We
didn't experience anything from the earthquake here ( so grateful for
that). Also, our missionaries from the areas of the quake have checked
with their families and they, too, are all okay. This is another
blessing for which we are grateful.
9/11/2017
Really powerful experience here this week. I'm only sending it to
family because it's something verry special to me. Damian and his son
Damian were out in front of their house on a sunday at about 8 at
night. I felt like I should talk to him briefly and we did. Only about
5 minutes, but we put a return date. Before we talked to him he had
been asking God for something to help him, because he didn't like the
way his life was going. Shortly later we came and talked to him. Since
then he and his son have been the perfect investigators. They study
their scriptures everyday, now including D&C, Teachings of the
Prophet Gordan B. Hinkley, and the standard works. He already knows
more that most members. Yesterday we went to visit them, and read
Moroni 10. Before the lesson he told us a story that I will never
forget.
After we talked to him for the first time, he found that he
couldn't drink another drop, and went and threw away his mostly full
bottle. The next time we visited him, he had bought another bottle to
drink after we left, but after the message of the Plan of Salvation, he
once again couldn't drink, and threw it away. For the past 11 years, he
had turned to the bottle every now and then to make things easier. He
and his son have a pretty rough life, and work day to day to eat. Later
that week, his father came to him in a dream and told him that he had
found the answer he was looking for, and that, "ahí está," (there is
it). Then he really dug into the Book of Mormon, and instantly knew it
was true. Damian has investigated a lot of churches, and has read a lot
of books, but he told us later that this book was different than any
other, and that he couldn't put it down. After he told us all this, he
turned to us and said, "I was expecting a visit from Angels as my
answer, and here you are." He is now living the Word of wisdom, and
will be baptized next week. I have seen a change in countenance in him.
9/18/2017
This past Saturday we had a baptism service for two very special
investigators. Damian and his son Damian Jr. were sitting outside their
home one Sunday evening at about 8pm, when, as we were walking past, I
had a very quiet, but certain prompting from the Spirit to talk to
them. Here about a month later, after teaching them they were baptized
into the restored Church of Jesus Christ. I've never seen anyone work
so hard to truly know if what we were preaching was true. Together they
prayed, and read the Book of Mormon along with the Bible each day, and
received an answer. They will forever be some of my best friends. They
have changed my life, and the Gospel changed theirs. I know that this
is the one and only completely true church on the earth today, and that
it can truly bless your lives.
This week was a gross dry heat, and I kept getting sunburned even with sunscreen and walking in the shade. Hopefully as we get closer to winter there will be more clouds. The baptism service was awesome, and Damian Jr. insisted that I baptize him, so I was able to do that. But I had been sick the last few days, so I baptized him with a stuffy nose. Probably sounded a little weird haha. The other day I studied the attributes of Moroni in Alma 48 verses 11 through 13. It was pretty interesting. I've seen a lot of pride here in Mexico, but I've also seen a lot of humility. Always an opposition.
9/25/2017
What a week! Elder Sastré and I finished off the transfer with two more baptisms! Ranata and Valaria decided to join the church after hearing the lessons, and hopefully the rest of their family will join shortly after. On another note I'm no longer in Celaya! I got transfered to Leon as a district leader, and I'm excited to start working here! Hope all is well with everyone!
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