Week Thirty-One: Baptism 2.0

You may have noticed that I don't necessarily talk about the people that I teach a whole lot. I want to but the people that I focus on change every week and I feel like I just can't do them justice over email. However, I think that some of the very first people that I told you about are a mother and daughter named Soledad and Lucia. It should be around Week 10 or so.

E Leavitt contacted them in early June of 2013. He never stopped teaching them and since I met them, my second day in Cartavio, I haven't either.  They are both really great. They have been through a bunch of family problems and hardships but have really good attitudes and a great sense of humor. We have tried a hundred things to help them to get baptized but a hundred trials have gotten in our way. The biggest one was that Soledad was and is still having a really tough time giving up drinking.

One day about a month ago, E Flores and I decided that Lucia was ready to get baptized with or without her mom on the 19th of April. She really hesitantly said that she would pray about it and that we could work toward it and that if the day came, and she felt ready then, ok. 

We visited her a ton this last month but when her baptismal interview came around, her teacher made her stay late in Trujillo for an extra class and she missed it. I was super bummed because I'd been praying like nuts but we extended the baptismal date a week. Last Saturday, she passed her interview and we baptized her this Saturday.

Her 17th birthday was yesterday so without telling anyone, I arranged for a member to buy cake and soda for afterwards and also without telling anyone, I invited E Leavitt.

It was a crazy spiritual experience (everyone was crying) and I learned a lot about the Lords timing. In the last six months, there have been a ton of moments where I was frustrated with her because I thought that I knew that she was ready. But I cant imagine any better timing than what actually ended up happening. It all worked out way better than if I would have been in charge.

E Boekweg, E Gonzalez, Lucia Borgoño Roncal, E Leavitt, E Flores