Now lets get to the miracle of the week. At the very beginning of the month we were making goals. We had two fechas for August 31, so I said 2. She then shouted 3. I thought "oh we've got an over zealous missionary here". She later told me that she was inspired to say 3. "Fine," I thought we'll work for 3. We got to work and all of August it looked like we would have one baptisim.
The story of Victor:
We met Victor my first week here. He had just moved in with some return missionaries and liked the way they lived. They had a peace and joy that he wanted so the RMs called us. Our first lesson with him went horrible. My comp was going about the lesson one way and I was going about it the other. But nothing can stop the work of God. We continued to teach him without problem. Picture perfect. No problems. He read. He prayed. He went to church. It was almost to easy to believe. My favorite memory with Victor is one lesson after a hard language day, I was bearing my testimony when he stopped me and said (in Spanish of course) "you know how we were talking about the gift of tongues in church on Sunday? I know it is true because of you. I understand everything you are saying". I almost cried.
I stood with him in the hallway before he entered the water [to be baptized] and he told me that I was his family, because his family couldn't be there. Victor is all tated up, but is one of the sweetest and emotional guys I've met. He went from literally hiding in a corner to teaching me the lessons, in one month. It has been great to see him fit into the ward and make friends.
....Then we found out that one of the young woman in our ward needed to be re-baptized because her records got lost.
The story of Milagros:
I met Milagros my first day here. She literally lives in the house the furthest and highest on the mountain here. The first day we walked there I thought to myself, "thank goodness she's a member and we won't have to walk up here again..." yeah. Well, about one week before we found out she needed to be re-baptized her mom told us that she had been lying and skipping school and all that rebellious teen stuff. So we thought we should help her out. We gave her all the teen advice we had. Anyway we set her date to be baptized with Victor, which meant we had to teach her all the lessons in a week. We started the lessons, but the elders finished them because we left to do intercambios. Milagros is a great [girl]. She's strong spirited and has got attitude. She is really patient with me and we have become quiet buddies.
...On Thursday we were traveling back to Caleta from Pico. I asked my companion what it meant that she had a strong impression that we would only have 3 baptisms, but it was clear we would only have 2. We both didn't know. I then stated that if Antonela got baptized I would go home, because that would just be too many miracles for one mission.
The story of Antonela:
We asked the elders to visit Antonela and give her sick son a blessing. They went and sent us a text message that all went well and that they had given her an interview! What? We were super confused and thought that meant she was getting baptized on Saturday too. The elders then called and told us that Elder Juncewanca pulled her aside and asked her what her problem was with getting baptized. She has been investigating [the church] for a year. She has been going to church, reading and praying, but she struggles to believe in Joseph Smith. The elder told her to get on her knees and pray right then. He walked into another room and she prayed. This gave us a ton of faith. When we went to visit her the next day, Friday, she was different. I felt like I could feel the she felt peace. She then told us what happened with the elders and how she felt a ton of peace. Her son was no longer sick. She told us that if he stayed healthy she would get baptized. Then we read a scripture and explained that you can't look for signs. She agreed. We invited her to get baptized the following day! She said she'd get back to us in the night. I then asked our members to tell us how she first recognized the spirit. Without me knowing beforehand, the member bore her testimony about The Book of Mormon and how she knew it was true AFTER she got baptized. It couldn't have been more perfect for Antonela. We then talked about taking a leap of faith and how your testimony is a progression. There was a knock on the door and she asked us where to get white clothes. Her member neighbor came in and bore her testimony. And there we go. We prepped her for the interview the next day. Antonela is of a kind? (you figure that one out) I can feel the love God has for her when I'm with her. She is so loving and patient with her sons. At first she really didn't like us, because she was buddies with the sister missionaries before, and her boys hated us...like hated. But now everything is different. Her countainance is completely different. I can see a light in her eyes. She even mentioned how she was sad that in a week one of us would be leaving. She didn't undersatnd me at all our first lesson. Now she has no problem. My language hasn't changed at all. The people that care about me are the ones that understand me. Oh how my love for her has grown. The miracle!
Love and miss you!
Antonela is one of a kind.
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