Por Fin! El Bautismo de Familia Cuelo

A new musical instrument, service with a machete, sick Sisters, and a BAPTISM!!!

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Glynis here: With all the illness issues, we have been concerned for Jacob's health. He tells us that he is fine, and he hasn't been affected by the illnesses. He also told us a little more about his area. His area is on the border of the city by the jungle. This is where the houses are all on stilts and the stilts will all be underwater come December. Hopefully, he'll still be around then, to take some pictures of that. He also wanted to assure us that he loves it in Peru, and is loving the work. Looks like the worst of the homesickness has passed! That's music to this mom's ears.

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This week was so good! Seriously, such a great week! It all started on Monday when I finally bought the instrument that I'm going to master in the next 2 years. It's called a Quena. It's native to the jungle, and it sounds so cool. Sort of like a deep flue sound. I've learned a few hymns and, of course, the music to The Lord of the Rings. I've been having fun with it, obviously, but of course I only play it at night before bed. So that's been pretty cool!

Also on Monday we had a Family Home Evening with the bishop's first counselor and his family, and that was sweet! It's cool to see the people here grow in their testimonies. Not only the converts, but the members as well. The conversion process is a lifelong endeavor.

This week the Hermanas in our zone have been having a lot of problems with heat. It's been worrying because this last transfer, 9 missionaries from the mission were sent home due to health issues. So, Elder Sindayen and I went to the Sisters and gave them each a blessing. They are all sick, and we aren't sure why. Hopefully, they'll get better.

Also this week, we finished our service by the riverbank; the cutting of the lawn down by the Amazon! Pretty cool, right? We cut it with machetes, and we sweat so much! The heat here at mid-day is practically unbearable, but I've gotten used to showering 2 or 3 times a day so it's all good.

Something that I have learned lately, is that everything is so much more effective if we are just straightforward with people. For example, we were teaching the Word of Wisdom to a mom who is drunk most of the time. I told her that her family would be so much more blessed if she would set an example for them and stop drinking. I wasn't scared of what she was going to say next. I listened to the Spirit tell me what she needed to hear, then I said it. Afterwards she said she knew I was right, and she would obey the Word of Wisdom. So, yay! The moral of the story is that when we are clear with the things we need to say, God will help them to understand in a clear way, and they won't be offended. I'm here to help them overcome the trials of this life, and I can only do that if I am clear, and if I invite the Spirit.

FINALLY, THE BAPTISM!!!!! So, this Saturday we finally had the baptism and it was very interesting. We all decided as a zone to have our baptism all together, with all the converts from the stake. So, we had a "Noche Blanca" where we baptized 13 people! That was so cool! 5 of those baptisms were from Elder Sindayen and me. The Familia Cuelo! One scary thing happened just a few minutes before the baptism: one of the Hermanas, Hermana Rasabala, from our Zone, couldn't see anything and she almost passed out. She could barely move and she was breathing so hard. It was really scary! Elder Walker (my Zone Leader) and I quickly gave her a blessing and then sent her to the hospital with the other Hermanas. They ended up spending the night there, but she's fine now. Then, finally, the baptism. Elder Sindayen baptized the 2 youngest, Isaac and Josue, and I baptized Jonny and Mirla (the parents) and their first child, Rey.

The baptism of Mirla was very interesting. She kept lifting up her feet and we had to do it over again, and again. This happened 7 times! No joke! But we eventually got it, and she was baptized.

Oh, I forgot to mention this: the water in the stake center was so gross! There were cockroaches swimming on top and little worm things crawling on the ground. It was so nasty! But, hey, it doesn't matter. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River which must be pretty nasty, so it's all good.

After the baptism, the Stake President was pleased with our work, so he bought us pizza. The pizza here isn't very good, I'm not gonna lie, but, hey, it was pizza! Can't complain! We brought home a box for leftovers and ate it the next day. We had to be creative in reheating it... I'll include a picture, but let's just say it included an upside down iron. Pretty neat, huh?

On Sunday, the familia Cuelo were confirmed and they received the Holy Ghost. All in all, a pretty good week!

Tonight is when we find out if we have transfers or not, so I'll let you all know next week if I'm still in Iquitos or not.

Love you guys,

Elder Neves