had a super rad week just recenly, had another baptism and we found a total miracle family. so first we had the baptism of one of our investigadores named alejandra, she was a heart attack baptism
haha
because at the last minute we almost lost her. her family is extremely catholic and you could say that they werent necesarily 100% on board with her decision to get baptized, and well she faced a few obstacles and definitely had to pass her personal test of her faith and testimony. however thanks to the great power of prayer, she was able to receive the strength and forces that she needed to stand strong in her decision and in the end of it all was able to be baptized this past saturday. it was a super rad baptism too, full of people, and elder garcia and i sang a way cool customized version of "nearer my God to thee" that had everyone there teary eyed. ive really gained a new apreciation for the music culture of the church and the great spirit that is invited by music.
included in this email are some pictures of the baptisms that weve had these past two weeks of the hna martha and of alejandra.
along with the baptism we saw a complete miracle this past week. a few weeks ago we found a family where the husband got baptized in the states but then came back here to mexico and well the point is is that he contacted us in the street one day and so weve helping him come back to activity in the church, and likewise helping his family join the church. and well my whole entire mission ive always asked in my prayers that the Lord blesses me with the priviledge to help a family accept this gospel, be baptized, and one day be able to see them get sealed in the temple. and amongst all the baptisms that ive had ive yet to have this family, and so i was sure that this family was the answer to my prayers. and as we prayed to know when is the day that the Lord would have this family get baptized, we received the response of may 4...and well it wasnt really what i was expecting nor wanted because changes are the weekend before, and so itd mean that the weekend after i leave apatzingan the family that was the answer to my prayers would be getting baptized. and well as you can imagine the Lords plans didnt really go according to what i wanted, and so i tried to convince my companion that we need to bump the date up one more weekend so i could be there, but in the end we both knew that it wasnt the right thing to do, so we continued with may 4 and sure they accepted it without second thought. and all i could do was think "great, all these 15 months of waiting and asking for this family to cross my path, and when i finally find it, im gonna have to leave it to some other elder" haha and well it wasnt necesarily the best way to think but i accepted it for what it it and kept working and praying for another chance to find a family.
and thats when the lightning struck haha this past thursday we received a phone call from our bishop that he had met a lady in the street that wanted us to go and talk to her and that he had made an appointment to go visit her with us on saturday. and so saturday rolls around and we go to visit them and dude, total miracle. as we talked to the lady, little by little i began to see the Lords greatness and mercy fold out before my eyes. the lady and her family had previously listened to and met the missionaries in oaxaca, where they attended church for 6 months and were going to get baptized (they had filled out the baptismal cedulas and everything) when all of the sudden her husband, who works for the military, and the family was moved to apatzingan and so they were never able to be baptized. and well as we sat there listening to her tell us all of this i couldnt help but think "man! what a coincidence" because i had gotten over the fact that id be leaving the other familly to another elder, when the Lord this time had greater plans and was just waiting for the right time to come around. i couldnt help but feel too that he saw my willingness to carry out his will and not what i wanted, and as a result of that obedience i was able to see even greater blessing and receive this miracle.
we still have yet to invite them to get baptized, but i cant help but feel and think that they could be baptized the weekend of changes. or at least thats what im hoping and praying for but still waiting for what the Lord has in store for this family. but all in all it was a cool experience because well found another family to teach, in total were teaching 3 families and a few other people too. its a literal gold mine here right now haha i dont think theres ever going to be a lack of work to do here. this truly is the greatest thing ive ever done in my life, every day is full of great experiences and testimonies. i love being a missionary! i hope that all is going well on the home front and that youre all happy and receiving tons of blessings thanks to this great restored gospel. i love you all and pray for you daily...have a great week and be anticipating more great news in next weeks email!
with much love from mexico,
Elder Maccarthy
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