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| These are pictures of the baptism. We didn't get any while he was in his
suit. (They all came out super strange too. He looks like we just
told him to go to his execution instead of his baptism). He was happy, I
swear! |
Companion: Hermana Luquette
This week was pretty fun! We were able to see a lot of cool things. We had a couple of exchanges, the Women's Conference, and a baptism! Things are going well in the area and we have been seeing miracles!
This week started out with exchanges! Due to the fact that we had our baptism on Friday night and the Woman's Conference on Saturday,
we weren't able to have exchanges over the weekend. Instead, we chose
to do back-to-back exchanges from Monday night until Wednesday night! I
had never done exchanges that way, but it was a lot of fun. We started
out with the other Hermanas in our district who work down in La Cresta:
Hermana Zambrano, Hermana Weaver, and Hermana Galvez. I was with Hermana
Zambrano and Hermana Weaver. It was a reunion of three mission
generations. We were able to find a couple of people to teach and we
were able to teach a couple of our investigators. Also, Hermana Galvez
knows how to thread eyebrows, so she threaded our eyebrows when we came
in for night. Now, they are on fleek!
Right as
the Hermanas from La Cresta were leaving, we started our exchanges with
the Hermanas from Buena Vista, Hermana Melendez and Hermana Wright. I
was with Hermana Melendez. It was a little bit of a miracle when they
came over because we were a little out of food after our last exchanges.
When the Hermanas walked in, they told us that they had some food that
they wanted to give to us. We didn't starve this week! Exchanges with
Hermana Melendez were really fun! I don't know why, but every person
that we talked to was someone that I had already met before. It was
strange. . . I guess that is what happens when you work in such a small
place. Halfway through the exchange, it got really cold. It had been
really warm and sunny, then we started talking to a man on the street
(who I had met a couple of weeks ago :) ). Halfway through our five
minute conversation, the temperature rapidly dropped 10 degrees. It was
freezing. Then, it started to rain. Neither of us had brought a jacket
and we didn't have any solid plans. We tried to visit a couple of less
actives and recent converts, but they were either busy or not home. We
spent a couple of miserable hours in the rain, but we were able to be
led by the spirit and I felt like it was a good experience. Hermana
Melendez told me that she wanted to work on being more persistent during
the exchange, so I think that we were blessed with rain to help us to
learn. We were able to talk to some cool people and we have gone back to
visit a couple of them.
This week, we spent a
lot of time working with Refugio to prepare him for his baptism. It was
really fun to be able to see how excited he was for everything. Now that
he knows about the church, he wants to share it with all of his
friends. He lives in a house with a couple of his family members and
other people from Guerrero that he has met here in California. He
started inviting them to come and sit in with us. One of them, Filemon,
has been listening almost every night and told us that he would like to
be baptized as well. He told us that he would like to come to Refugio's
baptism and that he would drive them both there in his car.
On
the day of the baptism, we decided to meet up with Refugio and Filemon
at their house and drive them into Bakersfield to show them where the
church building was. We went over about and hour before the baptism was
scheduled to start so that there would be enough time for us to drive
thirty minutes to Bakersfield and give him time to change before the
baptism started. When we got to his house, however, Refugio told us that
he had had to work a late at his job that afternoon and that he had
just gotten home. Filemon wasn't even there yet. We ended up heading out
about thirty minutes late and we got to Bakersfield about ten minutes
after the baptism was scheduled to start. There were three baptisms
happening in the ward on the same day, so we had a big group baptism
scheduled and we were worried that everyone there would be a little mad
that we were holding everything up. However, when we walked in, everyone
was sitting quietly and waiting for Refugio. It was sweet. It was a
great service and Refugio was so excited and happy to be baptized. He
has been such a joy to teach!
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| He really was happy. Really! |
On Saturday
night, we went down to the General Woman's Broadcast. It was great! I
love the fact that we are able to listen to the words of the living
prophets and the general authorities twice a year. What a blessing! I
felt the spirit so much and everyone was speaking.
Church
was great this week, too. We started teaching a lady named Guadalupe
and her husband, Rafael. We went over for a quick lesson with them
before church started and they came to church. The group members here in
Arvin are great at fellowshipping and they said that they really liked
it. Also, Refugio was able to be confirmed. He was a little late coming
the meeting because he got called in last minute to work that morning,
but he came in about 15 minutes late and they were able to do the
confirmation.
This week was really nice. It
strengthened my testimony that we are here for a specific reason and
that the Lord directs this missionary work. I love the gospel and I love
being a missionary. I know that this is the true church of Jesus
Christ! I hope that you all have a good week!
Hermana Blau
