Hey all!
This week was one of the most wonderful of my whole mission. And the thing is, I'm not really sure how to say why! Because I'm not really sure why! But it was a great week. Hard, at times, but great!
There isn't much to say when it comes to the investigators, just because we haven't been too successful in finding them. But I do have a few things!
So remember the couple of active members who have a ton of less-active kids and non.member grandkids? They're the familia Perez, just so you know they're names, and we're continually finding that the family is a fountain of potential. Which is awesome! They're all awesome people and an amazing family, and they all really need the gospel in their lives. We can help the whole extended family be united under the gospel of Christ, which is an amazing prospect! This week we found another less active daughter of the family that has two kids that are without baptism. Her name is Johanna, and she's an amazing woman. We had a lesson with her on Wednesday, and she came to church on Sunday! Which made me really happy. She also has a boyfriend who I think is also really prepared to receive the gospel, so we're going to try to teach him too! We haven't been able to teach the other daughter and grandchildren of the familia Perez this week, but hopefully we'll be able to this week!
Family of Alan! Not much happened this week with them, but Macarena (the little sister of Alan) told me that after our last lesson together, Alan read the Book of Mormon with her and they prayed together. Which melted my heart. He is the best convert ever. Anyway, he prayed with her to know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is the work of God, and she told us that at that moment that she felt something peaceful and different. Isn't that great?! She's only 11 but she can recognize the Spirit. It goes to show that age doesn't make that much of a difference.
So that's about all I have for this week! Elder Bednar also did a special training for the area south America south, which includes the countries Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. At least I think. But he came to Argentina and did some trainings for the leadership of the church, and then a special one for the missionaries! It was an awesome experience and I learned a ton. He's also one of the funniest people ever when he's in less-formal settings. I would go into more detail but it wouldn't do it justice.
This Saturday there were two baptisms! They were both from the other branch in Santa Cruz, but the Paniahue Elders usually go to their baptisms anyway to support the converts and the missionaries alike, so the Saturday we went and it was an incredible experience. Every baptism that I've been to here has been an incredibly spiritual experience, and it usually brings me to tears. I wish I could put the experience I had this Saturday into words that could properly describe how I felt. I looked at all the people in the room, and something hit me really hard. I had an experience that was a little similar to what Chelise described to me in her last letter, where I just realized the divine potential of everyone in the room, as if I could see it. I could see how much God loves us, how great the sacrifice of Christ truly was, and how beautiful the ordinance of baptism really is. It's a trivial act, that in itself does absolutely nothing, because the only power behind doing any of these things comes from the atonement and grace of our savior Jesus Christ. It hit me how simple it was, how easy, and how merciful God is to provide us with such a simple means of accepting the grace of Christ in our lives.
Know that God lives, remember that He loves us perfectly. Remember that He has a plan that sometimes we don't understand. ''Fear not, little flock, do good,'' always keep following His divine counsel and always put your trust in Him. No matter what happens, I want you to know that I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, and no force of hell nor earth can separate me from that knowledge. I know that this is His church, that He is at the head. If we follow Him perfectly and follow the guidance of the Spirit, we cannot fail. I know that whatever happens here is His will and will be for the best because I am following Him. And I know the same for all of you, because I also know that you are following Him. I love you all, so much. And I can't thank you enough for the sacrifices you've made for me and how you've helped me to grow into who am I know and have the testimony that I now have. I love you all, and I love God, because being as insignificant as I am, He watches me with perfect love and cares about me infinitely. And I can say the same about all of you. I love you all! Have a great week.
Love
Elder Fox