Maya's baptism
Maya used Eric's camera to take this picture of her brother with the missionaries
The little Zapata boy
Preparing for church on SundayHey everyone!! Good day to all!! I hope everyone is doing good today!!
Nothing too exciting happened this week. It was just a pretty average week. Probably the most exciting thing was the ward baptism of Maya, David's niece who turned 8. (David is one of their converts who was baptized a few weeks ago.) Except her baptism almost didn't take place! As I have explained, I love our branch leaders, I really do, but they're all very new, and so they often forget things, or just don't realize certain responsibilities. Ward baptisms, as any returned missionary or church leader will tell you, are supposed to be directed by the ward, with no need of the elders or sister missionaries. Well, our branch didn't know that.
Friday night we decided to swing by David's house, just to make sure that everything was in order for the baptism on Saturday, because we didn't want anything to get overlooked. Although we had all been talking about it for some time, we realized after we swung by, that no one but us knew about it. I called our branch president to ask if he had done the baptism interview, and it turned out he didn't even know there was a baptism the following day. I explained it to him, and shortly after that he passed by and had the baptism interview with Maya, so she was ready. We had been talking to her before because of all our visits with David, so we knew she was ready, but you have to do things in the right ways. So we told the branch president that we were willing to help him in whatever way necessary, but that he has the responsibility to delegate the tasks, arrange the speakers, fill the font, etc.
So the next day we worked as usual, but then decided to swing by the church and start filling the font, just because we figured they'd forget, which they did. And then later at the baptism, they hadn't set anything up, so it was kind of funny, and it was all a little scrambled, but it turned out really good anyway. We had been hoping and encouraging David to do the baptism, but he was too shy and so he asked Brother Dieso, the second counselor, if he would do it instead of him, which is okay. It was cool, and it turned out really nice and I liked it and Maya was happy.
So even though David didn't perform the baptism, he did prepare the sacrament on Sunday which is cool. Both Jorge and David (Jorge is the recent convert in the wheelchair) have been coming every Sunday in their shirts and suits, which is really cool to see them dress up so good. The Rios family also continue coming, which is great although still not the dad though, and they don't have church clothes yet.
The mission is ordering DVD players!! They say that every companionship is going to have dvd players so we can watch the missionary training videos during studies, which is pretty interesting. And it's good because many families don't have dvd players to show them church videos. Many changes are coming, and I imagine that we're going to see even more changes when the new mission president comes (in July.)
Well, I've pretty much slept all day, and I might go back and sleep more!! I got pretty sick yesterday, which I thought was a bad migraine because my head and stomach really hurt, although maybe the Argentines were right because they said I was getting the flu, and since I still feel bad today, maybe it really is. But whatever happens, happens. I've gotten sick so many times, but I know I'll get over it. Right now I'm fighting sleep urges, because I am very tired even though I've slept a lot today.
But don't worry, I'm doing good out here. I love you all very much, and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Eric
_____________________________________________
Nothing too exciting happened this week. It was just a pretty average week. Probably the most exciting thing was the ward baptism of Maya, David's niece who turned 8. (David is one of their converts who was baptized a few weeks ago.) Except her baptism almost didn't take place! As I have explained, I love our branch leaders, I really do, but they're all very new, and so they often forget things, or just don't realize certain responsibilities. Ward baptisms, as any returned missionary or church leader will tell you, are supposed to be directed by the ward, with no need of the elders or sister missionaries. Well, our branch didn't know that.
Friday night we decided to swing by David's house, just to make sure that everything was in order for the baptism on Saturday, because we didn't want anything to get overlooked. Although we had all been talking about it for some time, we realized after we swung by, that no one but us knew about it. I called our branch president to ask if he had done the baptism interview, and it turned out he didn't even know there was a baptism the following day. I explained it to him, and shortly after that he passed by and had the baptism interview with Maya, so she was ready. We had been talking to her before because of all our visits with David, so we knew she was ready, but you have to do things in the right ways. So we told the branch president that we were willing to help him in whatever way necessary, but that he has the responsibility to delegate the tasks, arrange the speakers, fill the font, etc.
So the next day we worked as usual, but then decided to swing by the church and start filling the font, just because we figured they'd forget, which they did. And then later at the baptism, they hadn't set anything up, so it was kind of funny, and it was all a little scrambled, but it turned out really good anyway. We had been hoping and encouraging David to do the baptism, but he was too shy and so he asked Brother Dieso, the second counselor, if he would do it instead of him, which is okay. It was cool, and it turned out really nice and I liked it and Maya was happy.
So even though David didn't perform the baptism, he did prepare the sacrament on Sunday which is cool. Both Jorge and David (Jorge is the recent convert in the wheelchair) have been coming every Sunday in their shirts and suits, which is really cool to see them dress up so good. The Rios family also continue coming, which is great although still not the dad though, and they don't have church clothes yet.
The mission is ordering DVD players!! They say that every companionship is going to have dvd players so we can watch the missionary training videos during studies, which is pretty interesting. And it's good because many families don't have dvd players to show them church videos. Many changes are coming, and I imagine that we're going to see even more changes when the new mission president comes (in July.)
Well, I've pretty much slept all day, and I might go back and sleep more!! I got pretty sick yesterday, which I thought was a bad migraine because my head and stomach really hurt, although maybe the Argentines were right because they said I was getting the flu, and since I still feel bad today, maybe it really is. But whatever happens, happens. I've gotten sick so many times, but I know I'll get over it. Right now I'm fighting sleep urges, because I am very tired even though I've slept a lot today.
But don't worry, I'm doing good out here. I love you all very much, and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Eric
_____________________________________________
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