Heyo, happy
Monday! Hope everyone is having a great start to June and loving summer
vacation! It's funny haha, just as it starts getting hot back home this last
week here was actually a little bit cooler and we had some rain and clouds
almost every day which was nice! Definitely made the work a little easier not
sweating as bad this week haha! We were in the area all week and so we just
grinded and saw a lot of success! We put like 4 more people on date for
baptism, found a ton of awesome new people we're teaching, and have been
growing our work with the members now that we've got a good feel around the
area and know a good amount of the branch!
Today I want to
focus on 3 people we worked with this week who were a big testament to me that
redemption truly is real and possible through our Savior Jesus Christ!
First, my boy José
Juan! If y’all remember he showed up to church out of nowhere, completely by
himself 3 weeks ago. Ever since then he hasn't missed a Sunday and yesterday he
made his first covenant with God by entering the waters of baptism! It was so
cool to see how much faith he has shown throughout the last couple weeks in
helping him prepare for baptism and the desires he has to truly change his
life! He was so willing to act on every invitation we gave him and trusted that
every commandment the Lord has given us truly is for our benefit! He was so
happy and excited at his baptism. In his
testimony after, he shared how he just felt like so much light, hope, and joy
has entered into his life because of Jesus Christ and the blessing of being
able to make covenants with our Heavenly Father! God truly is a God of
miracles!
Secondly, our new
friend Damian. On Tuesday we were sitting at a table in a park teaching José Juan
via video call, and right as we were about to leave, this guy came up to us and
said "hermanos, I need help." We sat with him and he started to share
with us all of the trials that he's faced in the last year. He shared that he had made a lot of bad
decisions which led to him losing his work, his home, his family, which in turn
led him to turn to alcohol. While he was sharing all of the trials and
difficulties he's faced, I was filled with so much love for him. I didn't see
him as a dunk guy who's thrown his life away by his dumb mistakes, but I truly
was blessed to see him as a son of God who is so loved by his Heavenly Father.
We were able to
testify to him of the power of Christ's atoning sacrifice to bring us hope,
joy, and redemption no matter how far we've gone off the path. We were also to
share with him the blessing it is to have the Book of Mormon, and the power
found within that book. We read the story of Alma the younger with him and as
tears filled his eyes he expressed how he felt exactly like him. He was able to
come to church on Sunday and the joy on his face is the reason I love being a
missionary so much. I testify that no matter how far we've fallen off the path
or however many times we've messed up, Christ is waiting with loving, open arms
to joyfully receive and redeem us!
The last person I
want to talk about is our friend Salvador. We met Salvador almost a month ago
when we first got here to Rioverde but ever since then we haven't been able to
really meet with him and teach him. For some reason we felt like we needed to keep
trying and on Saturday we were finally able to meet with him. After a bit he
started opening up and sharing with us his life story and man, has he been
through it. He's a cop, which here in Mexico is a pretty brutal job, and about
a month ago his wife was killed in a car accident. The worst part is he was the
one who was called to go to the scene of the crash.
While enduring
some of the most difficult pain I think anyone could experience, he turned to
God and pleaded for help. 4 days after
his wife's death, we knocked on his door. It was incredible to see it all connect and why
the Lord needed us to keep going back there and we were able to testify of the
joy and hope available through The Plan of Redemption and salvation through
Christ! Salvador accepted a date to be
baptized on June 28th. Please
keep him in your prayers, so that he can keep progressing towards that eternal
joy that is awaiting him! I testify that Jesus Christ lives, that He is our Savior
and Redeemer, and that the fullness of joy and hope He brings us is the
greatest gift we could ever receive!
Love you all and
have a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder McDonald
Word of the Week: Garrafon (Water Jugs) we had to like fill half the font for the
baptism with Jugs of water ‘cuz the building ran out of water💀😭 we survived though haha.
Invitation of the Month: GATHER ISRAEL!! With it being summer that means there's more time to share the gospel! This month I want to invite you all to make a bigger effort to gather Israel, whether through temple work, service, or sharing the gospel through small and simple ways!
**Jose Juan's Baptism!**
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