Hermana Warburton: Baptismo de Michel y El Libro de Mormon

HOLA!!! ¿cómo estan? ¿cómo le fue su semana santa?!

Wow this week was great as we got to celebrate Semana Santa and the resurrection of Jesucristo! :) We had a lot of fun experiences and neat spiritual experiences as well.

This week MICHEL GOT BAPTIZED!!! :) i almost couldnt believe it i was so happy!! :) he got baptized on saturday at 5pm, and he was just bursting with excitement. his whole face was lit up with such happiness, and hardly recognized him as the same man we contacted a little more than a month ago. but thats the thing. he is NOT the same person anymore. he has changed soooo much.

i dont know if ive explained the full story of michel before, but if not.. ill do a quick recap. So we contacted michel right before we wre going to our house to end the day. we were actually passing by the laundy mat where we wash our clothes and he happened to be right outside. we talked to him a little, and asked if we could visit him and he said yes. And so when we came back a few days later, we learned that he was SUPER Catholic and was basically the helper of the pastor or leader in his church in cuba. needless to say, i thought he would never change. he had soooooo many questions that were most of the time pretty frustrating and i felt like he just wanted to prove us wrong. when we explained about jose smith, he got WAY frustrated and defensive. he told us that there was NO way that a man could see Heavenly Father. that was just not possible at all whatsoever. well. no amount of convincing on our side would make him believe. we told him that he needed to pray and ask for himself. God is the source of all knowledge, so He will tell him what is right and what is wrong.

But the cool thing about him was that he ALWAYS kept his commitments. always. since the first time when we invited him to go to church, he went. on his own will. we were never begging him or encouraging him to go to church, read his scriptures, or pray. he just did them, because he wanted to find the truth. he wanted an answer. and thats why he progressed. thats why he got an answer. he was sincerely seeking! he also went to every activity we had, and when we went to a fireside, he found his answer from a testimony that was shared. after that he knew he wanted to get baptized, and his testimony just kept growing

so back to the baptism.... michel was sooo happy! he requested that hermana vargas and i sing "The Spririt of God" as a special musical number, and he was so happy to listen to that! then when he got baptized it was so sweet. his friend he made in the ward baptized him, and after he came up out of the water, he gave him a BIG hug. it was so sweet. it was like he was thanking his friend for helping him find salvation. wow. it was so neat.

and then michel shared his testimony. and it was GREAT!!! i about died! he shared some scriptures, and the importance of baptism, and expressed his thanks to us for all our work and patience with his questions. haha! but the best part was the end of his testimony when he said that he knows that Jose smith was a prophet, and that he saw God and Jesus Christ. He said he knows that because he has felt it in his heart, and because he has read the Book of Mormon!!! my mouth literally dropped open. the man that was so against jose smith, just said he was a profeta and knows he saw God. i about died of happiness! then the next day he bore his testimony/gave a talk in sacrament meeting when he got confirmed!! wow!!

my testimony and gratefulness of the Book of Mormon truly grew this past week. Because of the Book of Mormon, michel was able to gain a testimony of Jose smith. his conversion was fast and he has a good testimony, because he read this book. this book changed his life. he is now in 2 Nefi 31... only after a month of studying. The Book of Mormon can change lives, and really can help one gain a testimony of the truth!!! michel changed a ton. before he was so unhappy and serious. now he is happy and actually smiles!! :)

ok... on another note... other happenings of the week....

-we ate this traditional soup called fineska for Good Friday and it was sooooooo NASTY! i thought i was eating vomit. but ya know i ate it all.... because im a missionary... but ewww!

-haha then the next day we ate lunch at a SUPER FANCY restaurant that was DELICIOUS. Im not kidding i felt like i stepped into a movie. the food was great and the restaurante was beautiful!

-i sang opera and "Vanilla Ice Cream" on the stage in Parque Samanes where the Pope, and the President of Ecuador have both spoken. yep. i felt pretty famous for a moment!!! :) (we run at parque samanes every day, and we passed the outdoor stage this past week and i said i wanted to sing... and so hna childs asked the guard and she said yes.. so i sang for a few moments for hna childs and the security guard!)

Well thats my week!! thanks for everything! i know this Church is true and that it really can changes lives!! love you all lots!!! :)

les amo,

Hermana Warburton