Man this week was such an incredible week!!
Elder Sanchez and I are working super hard and we are having lots of success
together. We will be having a baptism this Thursday with a man named Fidencio.
He is such a funny dude. He's like 84 years old and just says the funniest
things sometimes. I seriously love old people- they are hilarious. We are super
happy for him and we hope that everything goes well for Thursday.
So on Friday morning Elder Sanchez and I left
for Morelia for Jose's baptism. Last year he was going to be baptized when
Elder Rueda and I were together. He couldn't be baptized because of some things
he had done in the past. His papers were sent in to Salt Lake City and ten
months later were sent back to the mission offices. The First Presidency of the
church gave permission to Jose to finally be baptized. The man has been through
so much!!
We got to Morelia at about 2 in the afternoon.
We went and ate at a member's restaurant and then we went to the church to see
if everything was ready. When Jose and I saw each other we immmediately just
started crying. The first thing he told me was, ¨After more than a year, I am
finally going to do this. Thank you for all your patience. I love you.¨ As we
gave each other a big hug we couldn't hold back the tears. It was such an
amazing moment.
We then went into the bathroom and got changed
into our baptismal clothing. As we left the bathroom I noticed that ELDER RUEDA
was waiting in the hallway!! I ran up to him and gave him a huge hug too!
I wrote him on Monday telling him that Jose was going to be baptized. A
year ago we promised Jose that we would both be there to support him- we both
kept that promise. Elder Rueda and I got to catch up for a bit. Man he has had
so many trials after the mission (he finished his mission 6 months ago) - it
kinda makes me nervous to come home!!! But everyone was so happy as we were all
reunited for a few hours.
We started the baptism and there were so many
people there that we had to do the program in the chapel and then when it was
time for the baptism we all went into the other room. As Jose came up from the
water I honestly cannot express that feeling that we had. He immediately gave
me a huge hug and said, "I am perfect. Everything that I have done is
now erased!" Man this guy is incredible!! The entire time he was
talking about preparing to be sealed in the temple in a year and how happy he
was to have the chance to have an eternal family.
This Friday I will be traveling to Guadalajara
to see some of my converts get sealed in the temple. It is the Ortega Sanchez
family. I seriously cannot wait! It will be such an amazing experience! I am so
happy with how my mission is ending. I could not be happier with all the work I
have done and I would honestly not change a thing that I have done in these
past couple years. It just makes me feel that all the hard work I have done is
all paying off.
I am so happy for the opportunity that I have
to be out here. I only have about 5 weeks left so I am trying to make the most
of every second that I have. I am doing great and loving this little pueblo. We
are finding so many people and we have lots of baptisms planned for these next
weeks and months. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways and I don't even know
where to start as I count all the blessings He has given me.
Thank you for all the love and support. Have an
amazing week!!! LOVE YOU!!!
Elder Mike Payne
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