Week 42- Life is Wonderful

Dear Friends and Family,

So lots has happened lately. I am still in Puno, but I have to do 2 more months of physical therapy… clinics here are different than home. It is kind of annoying because she starts the therapy and then you end up waiting forever when one part ends for the lady to come back and start the next part. But… patience is a virtue, right? One that I think I need to learn a lot more about. Haha
 
So the exciting news is that the entire Cotrado Family came to church yesterday. We visited them every day this week and when we went by Saturday to help the mom with laundry, she was almost done and wouldn’t let us help. She was preparing for Sunday like we had taught! J
 


My comp and I

The next thing is that yesterday was a rough day. We had planned a lot of things and called to confirm. Who knows what happened, but nobody was home. We went to visit a 12 year old boy who we met his parents last week and set up an appointment with the family for yesterday and then something happened and the dad was not very happy that we showed up and told us not to come back. That little story pretty much sums up how all of our appointments went yesterday. We however were able to find some new people thanks to a member who showed us some people she had been talking to about the church. Then at night, we went to see Abigail. When we showed up, she ALSO wasn’t home. Thankfully, her little sister was there and called her and about 10 minutes later, Abigail came. Abigail is a 17 year old girl who has decided to be baptized like 5 times when we ask her if she would like to be baptized, but… has never actually gone through with the baptism. We have been visiting her and strengthening her testimony and finding out how we can help with her doubts that really don’t have to do with the church but more so members in the church. Well, she arrives home and my companion had to use the restroom. Abigail and I begin to talk about how things are with her boyfriend and small talk like that. Then out of the blue, Abi asks me if she could be baptized THIS SATURDAY!!! I was in shock and had to ask her to repeat what she had just said. Of course we could plan her baptism for Saturday. This is the first time that Abi has decided completely on her own and brought up the topic and not us that she wanted to be baptized. She had decided that her birthday would be a good date to be baptized (June 9^th) but then yesterday told us that she didn’t want to wait any longer and wanted to give a special gift to her mom (her baptism). So we started planning her baptism and we asked who she wanted to speak at her baptism and she looks at me and goes, usually the members from here speak, but I really would like it if you could speak at my baptism. I felt super honored that she wanted me to speak at her baptism! So, super excited. She and Fernando are going to be baptized this Saturday and then hopefully others later in the month.
 
The Cotrado Family. Pedro (the dad) was kind of closed to the idea of being baptized again (since he was Catholic). We have really been focusing on prayer and the Book of Mormon with him. We have tried not to pressure him but the other night, I felt like I should ask him again about how he felt about baptism with his family in preparation to be sealed as a family in the temple. He looks at us and says I really have been praying and I don’t have doubts anymore about being baptized twice. WHAT????? The Lord works miracles in mysterious ways. He still hasn’t said Yes, but he definitely has opened up a LOT in such a short time. I have faith that he will be baptized with his entire family and that they can be sealed in the temple in a year!!!!!!!!!! J
 
Well, my thoughts for this week. I have been reading Jesus the Christ. And what I really was thinking about is, how sin is weakness. People always say why don’t you do such and such or why don’t you do this? I think as humans, we all want to be strong. We all have weaknesses and that is where we fall into sin. However, through Christ, ALL things can be made strong. The commandments of God are a protection. Like water that has harmful things in it, we filter the water. With our life, we filter the harmful things through living and abiding the commandments of God. When we have health (physically and spiritually) we are happy! Who doesn’t want to be happy? Anyways, I hope that we all can work on our weaknesses. It may not be easy, but all things are possible!
 
I love you all and pray for you always. Thanks for your love and support.
 
Love Always,
Hermana Carly Lang