Well, this week actually felt more like a month, because so many things have happened. On Monday, Augusto had his baptismal interview and passed! Irma also had her baptismal interview on Wednesday and also passed. She even took us out to lunch and was super content. Then, Thursday morning, we got a call from Irma, who told us, "Hermanas, I've still got a few doubts, and I can't go through with a baptism." The first thing that came to my mind was one of our famous family quotes: "That would have been nice to know yesterday!!" We asked Irma if we could come over to her house to answer some of her questions and help her with her doubts. So, we went over and Irma explained that she really didn't have a testimony of Joseph Smith and didn't believe in commandments like the word of wisdom or the Law of Chastity. I'll be honest, I felt just a little irritated. Irma had never expressed these doubts to us, and had been reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church every week. We asked her if she had prayed to God to know if these things are true. She said that she didn't believe that she needed to pray to know, so we taught her the prayer of prayer and about the Holy Ghost. We read with her of Joseph Smith's experience with prayer in the Sacred Grove, but Irma stopped us and told us she didn't believe that God would tell Joseph that every church was wrong. She believes that every church is good and that it's "totalism" and "discrimination" to say that there's only one true church. In the end, we realized that Irma had not developed a testimony through the power of prayer and the Spirit. We left her house feeling discouraged and confused. She had been so sure in her decision to be baptized! All day long I was thinking about Irma and felt sorry that she wouldn't be baptized on Saturday.
This week I learned that we can't control the actions of others, and we can't force them to know the truth. I also learned that God blesses us, he always blesses us, but maybe in the way we don't expect. Friday morning we met with Augusto one last time before his baptism, and he told us he'd never been so happy in his life! He started crying and thanked us for helping him find God in his life. Augusto was baptized on Saturday and was just grinning from ear to ear. One of the assistants, Elder Thorsen, baptized him, and even though not very members came to the baptism, it was a great service.
Hermana Gomez and I were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, and I talked about the obra misional with the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was an awesome experience studying about the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ at Easter time. I felt nervous to get up in front of everybody, but when I started talking the words just came and it was so natural to bear my testimony of the Resurrection. What a blessing it is to know that we will live again! Not even death has power over us because of our Savior Jesus Christ.
President and Hermana Borg invited us over to their home Sunday night along with the assistants and the other elders that work in the office to meet their son and his family that had come to visit from Draper. We played games and ate cake that Hermana Borg had made and ice cream from the states. It was super super good. I felt like I was right at home with family and friends, and it was a nice way to celebrate Easter away from home. I love you all so much and appreciate your letters you send each week. Yo se que vive mi Señor. Yo se que el nos ama y que por medio de el podemos vivir otra vez. Esta vida no es todo. Love you guys! Have a great week!
Love, Hermana Anderson
Pics!
Hna Gomez and I riding bikes on the beach at Larcomar.
P day of ice skating.
Augusto's baptism! Elder Huber to the right of Augusto is from New York, and Elder Thorsen is from Dallas.
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