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
