Guadalajara- Week Nine!

so im pretty sure that this past saturday elder briz and i baptized the first mexican prophet, or at least a general authority of that caliber. one day hes going to be giving a talk in general conference and hes going to talk about the missionaries that baptized him and youll all be able to say hey! i know that missionary that baptized him! 

baptism

but ya this kid is just straight awesome, hes been attending church for about the last month or so and we had thought that he was a member because he knew everything the other young men did, even more, and so we thought he was a member until we were talking to him and we found out he wasnt baptized and we were like woah wait what?? and so we asked when we could come by and he said monday and so we met with him every day this week and this saturday he was baptized. we would be teaching him lessons and before wed start wed ask for example what he knew about the plan of salvation and hed practically teach us what it was! and it was like this with practically all the lessons. 

when i taught him about tithing i told him how by paying tithing we have the opportunity to help build the kingdom of God here on the earth and he got so stoked about that haha he had this big huge smile and was like yeeeah really!! and man it was so cool haha and also he told us how when he grows up he wants to own a carniceria so that he can give food to people that are without food and stuff. i mean this kid is amazing, and when he would pray at the end of each of the lessons you could tell that he really appreciated and cherished his relationship with his Heavenly Father. 

west side fo lyfe!

also i had the opportunity to confirm him this past sunday and well i felt good because i was actually able to say the words without messing up and it was amazing to see how much my skill in the language has grown. it was funny too because the bishop and all the ward members were commenting on my "spanish voice" and how im a real mexican now and it was cool haha because in truth im really not that great at speaking spanish haha but i appreciated the support and compliments from them. but ya it definitely felt alot more natural this time confirming him than it did my second week in mexico when i confirmed another member haha. it was also cool that we were able to confirm him on a fast sunday because he was the first person to get up there and bear his testimony, and boy was it amazing to hear. 

baptism

also an update on another investigator, so i didnt include this last time, but hes actually a semi pro baseball player here in mexico and he has a contract with a team and it requires that he plays on sundays so hes unable to attend church and thus also be baptized. however we were talking with him this past week and he said that the first thing he is going to do when his contract ends in 2 months is be baptized, so were stoked about that, however 2 months is alot of time and were afraid of him possibly falling away or something, so were praying for a miracle to come and that hell be able to baptized sooner than that so were putting this whole situation in the Lords hands and were just going to go with whatever we feel from the Spirit because we need to push him but not too hard. 

this is for you matt o'connor

also this week we started meeting with the brother in law of one of our investigators. so ill be dead honest but i never expected that he would be willing to listen to the discussions. hes a way cool guy and we have an awesome relationship with him, its just well hes pretty involved with the "street life" and so we never thought hed take a liking to it. however the Lord had different plans and this past week he gave us a surprise. as we were cruising down the street the other day he saw us and called us over, we went over to see what was up and he told us he needed our help and if we could meet him at his house at 530. we said ya sure and when we went there we could tell something was bothering him. hes usually really animated always smiling and cracking jokes with me and just always happy, and this time he was super solemn. we got to talking to him about what was going on and he just starts crying. this thug of a guy just starts crying. it was a shocker, we didnt see it coming. he explained that he felt bad for all the wrong he had done, and that he didnt like where his life was and where hes going. he has a kid thats 5 months old and he doesnt want to leave his son fatherless like his dad left him and just all this stuff. 

buddies

for lack of better terms, i basically got slapped into the knowledge that no one is too good for the gospel or doesnt deserve a chance to hear the message we share. everyone from the bums to the thugs, to the rich to the poor deserve to have the opportunity to accept or reject our message. and well we never thought hed accept it and here he was sitting in front of us asking what we knew that could help him. so were starting to meet with him to help him out, whether he gets baptized while were here or no were gonna help him unto our last days here because hes a way cool guy and i love him and so im gonna help him in any way i can. but ya that was probably lesson i learned this week is that the Lord is definitely without a doubt preparing people for us to teach and meet. 

elder zavala and his first EVER hot dog

in reference to jacob 5:23 i believe, theres people in parts of the vineyard that we never thought to look for but that were being prepared all along. so give everyone a chance! so for those of you back home your coworkers, neighbors, family members, everyone! you never know who the Lords is relying on you to talk to and the last thing any of us want is in the day of judgement to be asked why we didnt talk to so and so when they had been prepared for us and we slipped up on the chance. and ya thats not really a burden that i want carrying around on my shoulders for eternity so ive personally made it a goal to talk to everyone about the gospel and invite all you to do the same. ya they might say no, but even if they do you at least planted the seed in them for the Spirit to work with and cultivate in the Lords time and not ours. 

we got helmets now!

also HAPPY MOTHERS TO ALL THE MOTHERS OUT THERE!! i gotta say theres no better place to be honoring my mom this mothers day than in the mission field...I love you mom!! but anyways have a great week everybody and i hope all is well in your part of the vineyard! because i know my sector is kicking some butt right now haha! a tout a l´heure!

 

much love from mexico,

Elder Maccarthy