Baptism

Disclosure from MOM- In order to help protect those who are investigating the church, Ross' mission president has asked that no investigator names be used in blogs that may be accessed by the public. From now on when Ross refers to specific people we will use a random letter to indicate an investigator. Thanks for reading his e-mails each week.

Welp, another week has gone by. Lots of hard work! I have some great news about this week! "A" is doing really great! We also started teaching his friend "L", and he is really interested too. "A" is planning on getting baptized next Sunday, the 26th. He tells everybody about it! He has truly been prepared for us to teach. The other day we went over to teach him, and we were planning on teaching the Word of Wisdom. His first week at church they talked about the Word of Wisdom, so he already knew the idea of it. But we found out that when he heard about it in church, he decided on his own to quit coffee! He was a coffee addict, and he quit all on his own! So, two weeks later, we found out that he hadn't drunk coffee since his first time at church! What a miracle! He is really great with everything. He loves reading the scriptures and learning about the commandments. He has a strong spirit.

Other good news! On Thursday I got a phone call from the Elders in Jefferson Park (my second area) and they told me that "P" was getting baptized on Sunday, and I was invited to the baptism!!!! I was really happy to hear that one of the people that I found about 9 months ago was getting baptized! So we got permission from President to go up to the baptism, and we had a member take us and "A" up to see the baptismal service. But, on the way we got a flat tire on the freeway! So we fixed it as fast as we could, and got to the baptism just in time to see the last person get baptized. Saddly I missed "P" getting baptized, but it was in the same service, so I got to see him after he got changed. It was really awesome to go back and see the old people I used to work with and the members who used to help us! There have been a few people who I used to work with that have gotten baptized since I was there! It made me soooooo happpy!!!!! Elder Cruz was also there to see the baptism. It was really good for "A" to see the baptism. He is excited! And we are too!!

Last night we had an awesome lesson with a member referral. The member came with us to the lesson, and the man's name is "E". He has been prepared to make changes in his life! He has gone through some serious stuff lately, and he is really willing to make good changes. Please pray for him! He needs lots of support.

Saddly, nobody came to church except for "A". But we will work hard to make sure people make it this week. But guess what? This week is transfers, so I will find out what happens on Tuesday night. I kind of feel like I might leave. I've been here for four transfers (6 months), and the are disolving a lot of the Spanish areas because we've been getting lots of English Elders lately, and we won't be getting any Spanish Elders until August, so there could be some big changes coming up lately with areas expanding and things like that. But, wherever we serve, it's all the same work right? So the Lord's work will move on, and people will continue learning about the greatest news on earth!

Welp, that's all for this week. A lot of other stuff happened, but I can't remember it all. The days are all smashing together, and I tend to forget things before the "today". But, all is well in Babylon. We'll keep working hard and doing our best. I love you all, and thank you for your prayers. You are always in mine. Prayer is powerful, and God answers. There's no doubt about that. Keep being good, it's worth it!

Love, Elder Ross Watkins

p.s. I don't have my camera cord on me, so you won't be able to see my hermosa cara for another week. Sorry mom :) I'll send pictures soon. Love you!