After a week of starting
over, the blessings have accelerated and the work of the lord is unstoppable.
In fact, we are like a train. An unstoppable train. We are a full steamed
locomotive!
ALL ABOARD! We are
headed to the Celestial Kingdom and all are invited! Get your tickets stamped
at the baptismal gate and then it's a direct route to the temple.
Juan Castillo has his
ticket stamped and is waiting to confirm his seat during his confirmation next
Sunday. Wow. What a day. There couldn't have been a better Sunday.
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| Juan and his wife, Adela |
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| Juan's party after baptism. He made Mole for everyone! |
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| La Familia Grande. Juan and his family before baptism. |
We stopped by Juan's job
on Saturday night because we only had half of the baptism planned. There was
supposed to be someone else getting baptized on the same day, so we let them
plan the other half of the baptism, but it ended up not working out. Juan
doesn't usually answer his phone while he's working, and after calling him 3
times, we decided it was best if we just dropped by to talk to him so that we
could finish making the baptismal program. We stopped by, asked the person
working at the desk to get Juan, and when he turned the corner out of the back
room of the restaurant where he works he was all smiles. He saw us and invited
us to sit down and talk with him. We figured out the remainder of his baptism
and he invited us to eat there. We were already fasting for fast Sunday and so
we decided to postpone the dinner until today.
The actual baptism was
incredible! Sunday morning we woke up so excited for what lay ahead: a baptism
and a chat with our mothers. We got ready, arrived a the church a little bit
early to make the baptismal program, and enjoyed a wonderful sacrament meeting
where JUAN BORE HIS TESTIMONY! He wasn't even a member yet! Now, you have to
understand who Juan is. He is not a man of many words, nor is he a man who
likes to have all of the attention, but the fact that he walked up to the
pulpit without any encouragement (I know because I was sitting with his family)
and bore his testimony was proof of how ready he really was. His testimony was
simple and not very long, but the sincerity behind all of his words were so
real. You could feel the spirit fill the room almost like even the spirit
wanted to be there to listen to what Juan was saying. It was incredible.
After the classes were
all over and we were preparing for the actual baptism, things were a little bit
crazy. Juan's wife wanted the program changed. She had decided last minute that
she wanted someone else to baptize Juan instead of Loren, who was already
chosen. We were heartbroken and so was he when we told him that the plans were
no longer the same. We tried to focus on the positive though.
Miraculously enough,
after Juan had changed and the bienvenidas were being given, Juan was presented
with two home teachers; Loren Romero and Miguel Chico. We were thrilled. We
know that Loren will still have a very powerful effect on the Castillo Family.
Like all special
occasions in the Hispanic culture, the baptism was followed by some WONDERFUL
food. I love Hispanics ;) haha We all went to Juan's house for lunch. They had
made Mole Poblano...and enough for the whole ward. It was awesome seeing all of
the ward gather into this small apartment sitting or standing on whatever just
to make more room for more people. It was a hot, humid, jersey summer day, and
the apartment didn't have any air conditioning, but sweaty as we were, it was
glorious.
Juan is incredible. I
wish you could all meet him.
Stamp that ticket and
send him to the temple! Arrival date, June 9, 2015.
Skype was the other best
part of the day. It was awesome so see my family so happy. What accomplished
little siblings I have! You all just seemed to glow! Courtney, confident as
ever, radiated who she was and what she is about to accomplish. Derek, glows.
Dillon is a little ball of sunshine, and Nathan is our little sunbeam. Mom was
especially sparkly with the tears in her eyes, and Dad, being the spiritual
giant that he is, filled the room. I love you all.
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| My cute family on Mother's Day |
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| Our Family Foto! |
I had a blast talking to
each one of you. I wish the time was longer, but even though time is short, as
it is here on earth, it can be deep. I'm looking forward to spending much more
time with each of you when I get home!
But the time here on the
mission is especially short. We don't have time to waste, and I can promise
you, no time is wasted here in Elizabeth. Like I said earlier, we are no longer
a huffing and puffing coal engine, but rather a steam engine running on
the spirit of God.
Let me tell you of some
other miracles that we have seen this week:
Monday night, we saw
Carlos Pena. He's a Dominican part member family. He is much like Juan
Castillo, not as outgoing as most Dominicans, tries to keep to himself, but we
wont' let him ;) and he secretly likes what we teach him even though he doesn't
want to admit it. Well, he just started to pray for us in the lessons. That was
huge! He accepted the invitation to come to church this last Sunday. He didn't
come, but he is doing all of his reading assignments and actually comes on time
to all of the lessons. He's going to be baptized super soon! I can see
it...just like with Juan!
Tuesday, we taught
Marisol, Emilia, and Jerry. They are all from Puerto Rico. Great family. They
are all a little bit older....50's or 60s'. Marisol and Jerry are cousins and
Emilia is Marisol's mom. They all live together in the projects taking care of
one another because they are either "too old to marry again" or
widowed. Well, Marisol has told us from the beginning that she would NEVER pray
for us. She said that it is something between her and God and that it doesn't
need to be said in front of other people. Well, this Tuesday she prayed out
loud. And she liked it! I was on an exchange with Hermana Bascom when this
happened, but when we walked out of the appointment I just hugged her and told
her why I was so happy. They don't have a baptismal date yet, but very soon!
Wednesday, we finally
saw Danny in a formal appointment. Probably one of the first that we have done
that since he got baptized in February. He's having a really rough time with
his marriage. Please pray for him. He, as a recent convert, is being the
example for his wife- a convert of many years.
Benita, well....she
still tells me that she gets sweaty when I come over. haha I love her! :) She
knows I do. She loves me too.
Carlos Castillo we
visited on Thursday and had a GREAT lesson. We, by some small miracle, found
him while walking on the street. He stopped answering our phone calls again, so
we were about to drop him, but Heavenly Father doesn't want us to give up on
him yet. We found him at 4 in the afternoon walking home from doing his
shopping. We were on our way to an appointment, but he told us to come back
later to have dinner with him. At 6 we arrived. He had made us
papalajuancajina, a Peruvian dish. We dined fabulously. It was awesome. I still
have hopes for his baptism!
Everything is wonderful.
I love the mission. There is no place better, nor time better, nor work better,
than to be serving the Lord right here in Elizabeth.
I love being a missionary.
I love it, I love it, I love it!
Sending all my love,
Hermana childs
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| Exchange: A trio. Me, Sister Bingham, Sister Roundy |
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| Exchange: Hermana Bascom |
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| Multizone Conference. Some elders I came to NJ with. Elder Burkhiemer, Elder Muro, me, Elder Welch, Elder Hammer |
