¡La
familia Diaz se bautisó! I LOVE THE DIAZ FAMILY! Ludmila, Anahí and
Cristian were baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday 29 de Julio
2014. It was AMAZING!
This week we went through
H.E. double hockey sticks. In every sense of the word. (Except it was
cold outside). Satan did NOT want this family to be baptized, AT ALL.
Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. But we wouldn't let
Satan take control of the eternities of our best friends.
Okay, I'm going to share with you a very powerful
experience that happened to my companion and I right before their
baptism. Satan and his followers work SO hard to prevent the work of
salvation! It was one of the most powerful experiences in my mission.
The day before their baptism (quite literally, 12
hours before) we passed by to visit the Diaz Family. To get the
signature of their parents, and see how they were doing. In this moment I
learned for sure that Satan does everything he can to prevent eternal
families. We got there, and sat down and were talking with Mary (the
mom) and her son Cristian, and her daughters Ludmila and Anahí. It's all
good. The dad, Julio Ceasar (who was more excited about the Gospel than
all of the family combined--he had SO much ánimo, it was great) STOMPED
into the house, sat down right in front of my companion and I, and
started yelling at us about how he doesn't want the Priesthood, doesn't
want to be baptized, and he doesn't want any of this. His eyes were
glazed over and his face was really different. We were in SHOCK. And so
was his family! He was yelling a ton, and the room was full of a
horrible spirit! And so my companion said, not having words to respond
to him, "can we say a prayer?" He said "Bah.... Si." And so Hermana
Manriquez said a very powerful heartfelt prayer, with tears in her eyes.
Everyone was crying during the prayer. But at the same time, the dogs
ran into the house, started barking, Julio Ceasar was yelling at the
dogs, slamming doors, etc. I felt like Satan wanted to prevent this
prayer from happening! After the prayer, my companion asked, "Julio,
what happened to you? What happened today?" because he wasn't himself.
Julio was not Julio. He told us (still yelling) that nothing had
happened, and that he doesn't want to do this. My companion asked, very
strongly, with probably the most confidence I've seen from her, "what
are you willing to do for your family?" And he started talking about
something random that had nothing to do with anything. Then Ludmila (the
oldest daughter) asked him with a strong voice with tears streaming
down her face, "Dad! What are you willing to do for us!? What are you
willing to do for your kids and wife?!" With that, his face changed.
That question came from his own daughter. All of his family was looking
at him in silence with tears in their eyes, waiting for him to respond
to the very vital question. He said, "I work so I can put bread on the
table." Then Mary (his wife) chimed in and said, "You're talking about
material things, this is about the eternities! We have to be baptized to
be sealed in the temple!" That right there showed my companion and I
that Mary really and truly KNEW that this is what they have to do to
have an eternal family. That made him think a lot. He got really quiet
and was looking at the floor. Mary basically taught him Lesson 2. We
talked about eternal families and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how it
had already blessed his family so much. After about 40 minutes we
cleared everything up and Julio Ceasar was back to himself. He had been
confused about the concept of baptism, something that we weren't aware
of. Now he understands very well, and invited us to eat Chorizos the
next day after the baptism. Mary signed the 3 baptismal records for her
children (because they need parental permission) and Julio Ceasar wanted
to sign every one of them, too.
Wheew. What an experience. I can't really put into
words what was felt during this lesson. We felt the whole spectrum of
emotions- happiness, confusion, anger, the influence of Satan, doubt,
sadness, disappointment, hope, courage, and the Spirit of God! We went
through so much to help this family, and we're still working with the
marriage papers for Mary and Julio. I hope hope hope I can come back
here to Buenos Aires to attend their TEMPLE SEALING in a year!
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!
Enjoy the photos :) SUCH AN AMAZING FAMILY (Julio Ceasar had to travel to Junín to work and couldn't go to the baptism :(
P.S. The baptismal font key didn't work!!!!!!!!!!!!! The font was
filled, but we didn't know if it was full of hot or cold or what?! And
so we were waiting a while for someone to come save us. Finally, it
opened. haha :)
I LOVE you all! Keep being amazing!
Hermana Gardner
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