Letter originally sent April 11, 2016
This last week was, once again, all over the place.
I'll start with the baptism that we had yesterday! :D Ian just got baptized yesterday. The Spirit was so powerful in his baptismal service. His mom brought her sister and her niece to the baptism, and they aren't members. They are from San Mateo Atenco, so we will be passing that reference along right now. Ian was a little nervous about the whole water part of getting baptized, but he did a great job. SO grateful that we didn't have to re-do the ordinance. He is 13 years old, so within a couple of weeks he will have the priesthood and will be passing the sacrament. I now have a convert blessing the sacrament, a convert passing it, and another convert that is in charge of the door. :) Sweet! Haha.
We went to the temple on Saturday! We went with the ward and took Ian and his mom with us, and while all the members (including two of my converts!! :D) went inside to do baptisms for the dead and a couple sessions. They loved it! It really helped us finish getting Ian ready for his baptism yesterday. Only downside? We got there too late for the distribution center to be open. Bummer. I wanted to buy a hymnal for Myrna.
We are still struggling here. We now have about four months without a ward mission leader, and we have been in the "I'm going to interview him next week" stage for roughly two months. It is making working with the ward a little more complicated... But we are doing our best to make it work and keep things going. Las Torres is truly an incredible ward. I would really really really love to finish my mission here. It is also so nice to be able to see and help out Universidad a little too each Sunday (I was there three changes a year and a half ago). :)
Elder Lara and I are still struggling. We both come from cultures that are very different, and there are some things that we each do that really get on each other's nerves. :) I know for a fact that I annoy him quite a bit sometimes, and I really appreciate that he is always willing to give me another chance to be better. :)
I particularly loved the testimony that Ian's mom, Julieta, shared in the baptismal service. She got baptized about 30 years ago, and then sealed to an ex-missionary a year later. The ex-missionary wasn't the most stellar person, and she wound up going inactive about 25 years ago. In those 25 years she has seen several divorces, been kicked foreclosed many times, almost completely ignored by her family, and has just been though, in her words, "living Hell." When I asked her to share her testimony she didn't want to at all, but we got her convinced. :)
In her testimony she talked a bit about what had happened in her 25 year haitus from the church, and how it has been. She said that the time for forgiveness and change had come. At the end of her testimony, giving a beautiful consummation to these 25 years of unrelenting torment, she said, "My war has finished." The peace and the joy and the light that entered her person, especially her eyes as she said that was incredible. It was like watching all the snow melt and see summer come. The room filled so much with the Spirit that even the screaming little four-year-old girl ("I'M HUNGRY and I wanna go home NOW!!!!!!") sensed the change and calmed right now. I love being a missionary and being a part of rescue stories like this. I have come to understand so much better why the father felt so much joy when the prodigal son came home, where he belonged.
I know that this church is true. I know that the Lord loves us. His ministry on this earth was individual and personal with every lost and struggling sheep, and today it is no different with his chosen and set-apart servants.
Hope you have a wonderful week y'all. :)
Love,
Elder Kennington
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