Tuesday, September 2, 2014

BAPTISM

Family!

Yes, you read it correctly, we had a BAPTISM this past week!  I'm generally too cautious for superlatives, but it might have just been the happiest day of my life!  So let me tell you about it.

We've been planning the baptism for the 30th of August for pretty much the whole month, so we've had tons of time to invite people.  Because of that, we ended up having more than 50 people there!  The room was full!  We started off by singing "El Espiritu de Dios."  Well, about half of us did.  The other half that didn't speak Spanish sang "The Spirit of God" at the same time.  E---- has been going to classes in the English ward and sacrament meeting with us, so there were lots of his friends from the English ward there that didn't speak any Spanish but came to support him anyways.  An 8 year-old boy from a recently activated family we have been working with was also baptized.  The branch Elders Quorum President Hermano Grajeda baptized E----, and President Vilches baptized R------ (AKA Papas).  After he changed, E---- bore his testimony to everyone in Spanish and English.  It was amazing.  He said that he was so glad that he was one of a few out of a the billions of people on the planet that had found the truth and come to know Jesus.  Super powerful!  The next day I got to confirm him in sacrament meeting.  That was a really cool experience.  We went to visit him later on Sunday evening, and when we got to his house he was on the phone with his older brother telling him all about the baptism and the Church!  Not even a member for 8 hours and he's already a member missionary!

I'm so excited for him!  He's got such a great future ahead of him.  He has the goal of serving a mission and getting married in the temple one day, and I know he'll be able to do it.  It's been amazing to see how the gospel of Christ has changed his life over the 3 months I've known him.

So yeah, that was definitely the highlight of the week.

I gave another talk in sacrament meeting this past Sunday.  I've been in the branch for over 13 months now, and somehow I've managed to only speak once until this past Sunday!  It was my second talk in Spanish, and this one went much smoother than the one I gave when I had only been speaking Spanish for 3 months...

I went on another exchange to my last area.  This time I got to see a lot of investigators that I had found and started teaching, and I was glad to see that some of them are doing really well!

One day we were knocking on a potential's door when this kid walked up to us from the street and asked us if we were from a church.  We said we were, and he said "I want to go to church."  We set up an appointment with him for the English Elders, they went by and taught him, he came to church this past Sunday, and now he has a baptismal date for the 20th!

I know that this is the Lord's true church.  I know that the Gospel of Christ changes lives and can help people reach their full potential.  I know this because it has changed me, and I have seen the changes it has made in the lives of people here in Dayton.  I'm so grateful to be able to share this message with the people here!

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote