3 Baptismal dates and other news
- Glynis Neves
- Dec 3, 2018
- 4 min read
Setting baptismal goals, Christmas devotional, and the state of the river rising
Glynis here: I'm happy to report that Jacob sent pictures!!! Only 4, but that's better than zero! I even got to see his sweet face in one of them! He has had a great week, and was thrilled to let us know that his mission president relaxed the rules for music, and he has asked that we send him what we can. Specific requests are symphonic music, Christmas music and anything that features French horns! This is huge for him, as music is the language of his heart! If anyone has any suggestions for music, please pass them along! Enjoy this week's adventures.
Hola mis queridos amigos!
This week was pretty great! First of all, we started with a goal. We had our district meeting and we planned out how the month of December is going to work. We set an inspired goal of 20 baptisms as a zone this month. We are going to work super hard to be able to accomplish it. At the time when we set the goal, Elder Quezada and I had a grand total of 0 baptismal dates, so, after a prayer, we set a goal to have 3 baptismal dates set by the end of the week. And then we got to work!
We decided it would be a good idea to talk to some old investigators to find some new people to teach. We got the name of Giovanna and we felt we should work on teaching her more. She's a single mother and she was an investigator in this area over a year ago. I think I may have already said this last week, but she told us that every time the missionaries have come to her house, she was always in the middle of a rough time in her life. We are the third companionship to contact her and she believes it is a sign from God that it's the path she should take. We got to work and began teaching her how the gospel of Jesus Christ can bless her and especially her family, and we taught her how the true church of God was restored to the earth. She prayed and got an answer. The next time we went over to her house, she was sitting on the couch reading the Book of Mormon. She was already in Mosiah! We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and we felt the desire to set her baptismal date for the 29th of December. She agreed, so one down, two to go.
The second person we felt was ready for a baptismal date is a woman named Cindy Ijuma. She was a reference from the Bishop, and she has a family that is all members. Her husband served a mission in Trujillo, Peru. She has been very receptive, and after a great testimony meeting about the Book of Mormon with her family, we asked her if she would prepare herself to be baptized on the 29th of December, as well. After hearing all the testimonies of her family, she agreed! That was pretty great!
The last baptismal date we got this week is a sister named Jackie. She was also a reference from some members, and we have been teaching her for a while, now. She has a lot of friends who are members, and she has heard all about the church. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ, and how it all comes down to acting upon the faith that we have. We also committed her to be baptized on the 29th of December, and she laughed when se set the date. She wasn't expecting it, but after another visit, she told us she prayed about it and feels that she is ready to make that commitment! So, we completed our goal of 3 baptismal dates this week, and we now have 3 sisters that are so excited for their baptisms on the 29th of December. It's going to be one big ol' baptism party! It's going to be so awesome, right after Christmas, to have a triple baptism. I just know that they are going to be ready by then!
Yesterday we had the Christmas devotional from the First Presidency, and I'm not going to lie, I loved it so much! Hearing the music, ESPECIALLY the French horns, made me so, so happy. I miss playing music, a lot. It's a big part of who I am and I am sad to let it go for these next 2 years. But I know it's what I must do, and I know that I am doing what God wants me to do, and for that I am being blessed. But, I still couldn't help but smile and thing about my good old band back home when I saw the orchestra at Temple Square!
In other random news, the river is rising very rapidly. The rain is pretty consistent, and when we go to certain parts of our area we have to walk on floating bridges that connect to houses on stilts over the water. It's so cool, but kind of gross because the water is black and smells so bad! But, hey, it's an adventure! The mosquitoes are getting worse, though, so I guess maybe I'll start using bug repellant.
Oh, one more thing, my pensionista decided she was going to teach us how to make juane, which is a local dish here. It's yellow rice, chicken bones, and a teeny bit of meat that gets wrapped up in some big banana leaves, then they get boiled. Despite how it sounds, it is actually so delicious!
I hope you are all having a great time this holiday season. I am so excited for Christmas to see my family! I love you guys! Have a very Merry Christmas!
From the Jungle of Peru,
Elder Neves
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