Monday, June 18, 2012

LIZABETH & ALEJANDRA GET BAPTIZED!


Dad, Happy late Fathers Day!  Thank you for your emails and Dad I hope you had a wonderful Fathers Day. It was a pretty tough day too, thinking about Dad. In English Branch they had the normal Father’s Day program. The Primary kids sang the dad songs and I thought about you all day. I have been thinking about the last line in the Father’s Day song they sang where it says "I’m so glad that he’s my dad" and Dad, I’m so so glad that you’re MY DAD! And I love you a bunch! And even though I couldn’t be there, you know how much I was thinking of you!
  
So, there was so much going on this week to get the Hernandez’s prepared for baptism. So ill start at the beginning of the week! So you know last Sunday, Lizbeth passed her interview and Alejandra had just got back from Girl’s Camp. But Alejandra still hadn’t received an answer and didn’t really know why she really wanted to be baptized. She knew it was good, but just hadn’t received that answer. We worked all week with her with visual lessons and videos and just everything, but she wasn’t receiving her answer. So we were just praying and praying that she could get it before her interview, Thursday night. So Wednesday night, we go over for the last lesson and talk about the Spirit. We wrote out on the white board the feelings from our Heavenly Father and the ones from Satan. We talked about how if we do what God wants us to do we feel those good feelings, but if we aren’t, we will get the bad ones. So we came to the end of the lesson and knew she had to pray. She is kinda shy when it comes to praying so we brought some prayer candy to coax her. So finally she knelt down and offered up a prayer, in the words of a 15 year old girl. As she said “Amen” we waited for a few seconds for her to look for those feelings. She finally raised her head and. . . . nothing. She said she didn’t really feel anything. And so I asked, “How did you feel before the prayer”” She said, "Well nervous." And we said, “Who is that from?” “Well...probably Satan." And then I asked, “What did you feel as you waited after the prayer?” And she said, "I felt like I had no worries." And then she looked at us and then at the ‘Board of Feelings’ and instantly tears came, she got a big smile on her face and said, “That’s my answer, huh?” I said, “YES IT IS!!!!!!” haha.

So, needless to say, Alejandra passed her baptismal interview with flying colors. Lizbeth and Alejandra were baptized and confirmed yesterday by me and Elder Jackson and I have never seen such bright and happy and "clean" smiling faces. They were just glowing! We had nearly the whole branch there and it was just the most amazing day I could have asked for. A pretty good Fathers Day for our Father in Heaven, I’d say.

Things are going so well here in the Casa Linda Branch and I feel so at home here. There isn’t a lick of English spoken, but that’s ok because they know how to party, and they know how to love our new converts, and I have no doubts that this family will be active forever.  And I love them so dang much!

As far as Aurora, we are still teaching her in the hospital, but probably won’t make her date. But we can’t stop teaching someone that wants it so bad. I just love her too. she is the sweetest old lady. But we think she may be ok and get out someday in the future. Well keep praying.

So family, that’s all for this week. Thank you soo soo much for your prayers and support. I am so blessed to be here in Brownsville and I love every minute off it. I am "head over heels" for the people here, HAHA! Especially the newest and purest family in Brownsville Texas. I love you all and pray you have a wonderful week. Take care and until next week,

Love, 
Elder Smith