El Bautismo de Octavio (Octavio's baptism)

Touring the mission, celebrating a birthday, a very special baptism

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Glynis here: This was a hard week for us, at home. Celebrating Jacob's birthday without him was a bit sad for us. However, we know that he was watched over, and was able to celebrate with his new "family" in Peru. He remains healthy and happy. It's just amazing to watch his testimony grow, week by week! A lot of you have reached out to us, concerned about the water in the font. When we questioned him about it, he told it us that the water is held in a tank on top of the chapel, and the longer it sits, the dirtier it gets. He says that the bishop takes care of it when it's brought to his attention. Here's hoping!

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Buenos Dias!!

I hope you are all doing great. I've been trying to picture what it's like, right now, in Utah; the colder weather and the colored leaves... good times. Here, it's green all the time. The good news is that the rainy season is beginning, so the weather is cooling down a little, but it's still consistently in the 90's and the humidity is the worst! But, this week the work has moved forward very nicely.

On P-day last week, Elder Quezada and I went around and toured the edges of the city a little. We took some cool photos of the jungle and the river. That evening, we had a Family Home Evening with the Cuelo family. We taught them a little about temples and read the Book of Mormon with them. It seems to me that the kids of that family have stronger testimonies than the parents. They are always giving us references from their friends, and are sharing the gospel with them, but the parents are a little more stiff. They accept the gospel, but are still unsure about the whole thing. They obviously have testimonies and have felt the Spirit, but it's just going to be a matter of keeping them active.

On November 6th, we got invited to a members house to have lunch with them and celebrate my birthday. They couldn't do it on my actual birthday (November 8), but it was so good! We had Ahi de Gallina, by far my favorite food that I've had here in Peru, so far.

On Thursday, we had exchanges, so I went to the area of the Zone Leaders, and one of their missionaries came here. I went proselyting with Elder Otero. He's our leader, and his story is very interesting. He started his mission almost 3 years ago. While he was on his mission, he found out he has cancer, so he had to go home to get help medically, and after about 10 months, he was finally allowed to come back out to the field and finish his mission. He's almost done, just lacking one transfer more. I learned a lot from working with him, and it was cool to see how strong his testimony is. He is evidence that the trials that God gives us really strengthen us, and that through them, we can grow closer to our Heavenly Father.

On Saturday was the BAPTISM!!! It was so good, seriously, such a great day! In the morning, Elder Quezada and I went to the chapel to clean the font, and as usual it was so gross, with centipedes and cockroaches floating in the water. We cleaned it up, and drew some fabulous works of art on the blackboards. Octavio had asked us if Elder Sindayen could baptize him, because he was the first missionary to contact him, so we got the permission to make it happen. So, my good ol' companion was there to baptize him! Octavio had invited almost all of his friends from school, so the place was PACKED, and it was a great opportunity to help them feel the Spirit and to understand a little more about the church. After the baptism, when Octavio came up out of the water, he looked so happy. I'll never forget the smile he had on his face, knowing that what he was doing was something that will change his life forever. He was such a perfect investigator. We are going to stay in contact for a long time!

Sunday was his confirmation, and... well... he slept in. Really. We were worried he wasn't going to show up. We called and he didn't answer. The Bishop called him up to the stand to be confirmed, and we tried to give him a signal to not announce it, but oh well. We bolted out of the chapel and ran to his house, helped him to hurry up, and then ran back to the chapel. Luckily, SOMEHOW, we made it in time for the Sacrament. He was confirmed and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We also had a few investigators come to church. One, named Jackie, we had been trying to get to come to church for a long time. She is progressing really well with her prayers and her reading the Book of Mormon. She just lacked coming to church. Well... SHE CAME! It was such a good meeting! We are going to try to set a baptismal date for her this week, so keep her in your prayers. Pray that she'll have an open mind and be receptive to the promptings of the Spirit.

That's about it for this week. Let me know how you are all doing back home! "Que la fuerza le acompane."

Elder Neves