Week 43: Almost a Baptism

Well, a pretty crazy week! A lot of great things have happened this week, and we've been really busy. The car is an incredible blessing, one for which I am so so so grateful. It has helped so much, and we have been kept very busy.

Mom - I'm sorry to hear about all that! I do have a testimony that Satan has a great hold upon the world. I see it here every single day. Puerto Rico is just a breeding ground for Satan's power to flourish. It's crazy. We seriously are at war here, and it's intense haha. Wow. I'll just try and paint a picture for you. You know how there are just tons of chapels there in Utah? Imagine instead that every one of them is a bar. And then imagine tons of basketball courts where kids can just go and do bad things at any point of the day or night. Horrible. And I did get the pictures of Rex being up at the house. :) That's my buddy alright!!

Dad - Well I was really hoping BYU would beat Boise State. I can't believe they lost by 1 measly point. :( Oh well. But the Halloween season is upon us here in Puerto Rico too! I have a great picture you'll love which I'll send soon. :) I look forward to seeing pictures from your Halloween set up soon! And I'm glad you're losing weight, and I am too! I think I'm down like 25 since I started. And remember the list of ideas I sent a little while back if you're wondering for things to send. I'll resend the list in a bit. :)

Marilee - I just wrote you. :)

Anyway, a crazy week! We had the car, so a couple of days we took out members with us. One, Christian Rivera, a mission-age young man who isn't out yet, and he said he really enjoyed the experience! He said he had a great time. Also, we were able to finally take Zondy out with us, which really helped him boost his morale, and he loved it. He can't wait to go out with us again, so that was awesome! We also met a guy named Carmelo Borrero, who is the boyfriend of Bishop's daughter, and he is GOLDEN!! Finally! I have officially met a golden investigator. :) He says he knows the Church is true, that the Book of Mormon is true, that he wants to be the next bishop of Guayanilla, and wants to be married in the temple. Wow. It was great to meet him, and he says we'll be taking pictures this coming weekend, so pictures to come!

But yeah, so this weekend was Stake Conference, and the Zone Leaders wanted each companionship in the zone to have someone baptized Saturday night by their unit leader. Well, we did our very best. Narayan Ortiz, a 14 year old, was and is ready to be baptized, and his dad would have been home on time to see it, but his mom decided that someone else's quinceañera was more important than her son's baptism, and so we couldn't baptize him for that sole reason. I realize that the quinceañera is a big deal in hispanic cultures, but come on, that over a baptism in front of Elder Cornish of the Seventy?? Oh well. We weren't the only ones who didn't get a baptism. Actually, Yauco was the only one with a baptism. But Carmelo said he was going to be there, so we go to Ponce with the Yauco elders, but Carmelo had to leave with the Bishop, so we didn't have an investigator there.. but it was a great service, and Pres. Alvarado ended up letting us stay so I could play the piano for the adult session. Wow. Elder Cornish's talk was AMAZING. He basically called the Puerto Ricans to repentance, saying how much the Mongolians, Haitians, and Dominicans sacrifice for the church, because "The Gospel is precious to them." It was great. Then the next morning, Carmelo was there, which was awesome, and I played the closing hymn for Stake Conference. Elder Cornish also gave another great talk about the Atonement during that session. It was just overall great. :)

Anyway, so right now we have 4 baptismal dates, and hopefully 2 of them will happen this week! It should be a good weekend, with a baptism and also the Tesch's are putting on a missionary work conference for all the Aaronic Priesthood and mission-age elders in the stake Sunday night, and all the missionaries are going to be there for support and to sing Called to Serve. It should be great!! :)

But yeah, that's about that! Loving the car and oh so very grateful for it, and working hard every day. I am really starting to love Guayanilla, and I hope I can stay at least one more transfer here. I love you all and thank you for everything that you do! I pray for you always!! :)

Con muchísimo amor,

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission