Hermana Anne Tolman: : Week 51

Today I have some GOOD news to share.

Number one is that we have this mission newsletter and as a part of it they put pictures of baptisms that week in the mission and last week I saw that Josid (the boy who we helped get baptized in like, July, in my other area) ´s Dad got baptized!!

Probably none of you even remember or care but I was just the most happy when I saw that cause we taught him but he was struggling with a lot of doubts and baptism seemed very far off and distant but LOOK now they’re on their way to being sealed in the temple. What a true miracle to see.

2. is that Leandro (who got baptized 2 weeks ago) went to young men’s camp and passed the sacrament yesterday. He didn’t have a white shirt and tie and he was so sad but then one of the other young men somehow found one for him and lent it to him so he could pass the sacrament. It was tender.

3. We had a baptism!

Me and my daughter Hermana Ruiz on Divisions.

It was very out of the blue but the story is that on Christmas day I was on divisions (that’s another story..) and we went in a taxi and started talking to the taxi driver so we could, you know, share the gospel and we come to find that he actually got baptized like, 5 or 6ish months ago but then he never got confirmed because his work situation got complicated and desperate so he started working on Sundays. We were like *what* because we had no record of him at all so it seemed a little sketchy (even though there was a big switch up because we share the ward with elders and they got whitewashed and changed the boundaries so half the registries are in their house and half of them are in our house and so it actually makes sense that something like that would get lost in the confusion) so anyways we wrote down his phone number and address but for some reason whenever we tried to contact him it just didn’t work and we asked the members about him but turns out we just asked the wrong members about him cause they were like "oh yeah, Juan! I remember him! Don’t know where he lives tho, sorry" And to be honest after that we kind of got swept away in busyness and forgot about it until BAM he shows up to church and says "my heart is changed and I have repented, Baptize me plz" and we were like "hmmm" and thoroughly made sure he understood the commandments and doctrine and that this time around he was committed to enduring to the end and here we are, two weeks later and he´s baptized. I didn´t know this before but turns out the Elders Quorum President had been putting him on the temple prayer roll for all this time and then suddenly he showed up to church so that was a cool miracle. Right in the middle of his baptism the power went out so it was PITCH black and everyone just used the flashlights on their phones. It was very memorable. To me it was powerful when he was being baptized and they said "Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ" because it brought to mind 3 Nephi 9:14 where it says that anyone--that ANYONE--who repents and comes unto Christ with real intent will be welcomed with open arms.

I´m learning every day that The Atonement of Jesus Christ applies to all of our little shortcomings in character and discipline, and it’s a joyous opportunity that means you don’t have to be stuck the way you are. The only difference between being or not being a disciple of Jesus Christ is your dedication to daily repentance and hope in Him. Don´t lose your faith in the reality that we have a Savior and that he suffered so we don´t have to!

Anyways. That´s my lil message 4 all u hoy.

Also today we visited a monument near the Bridge of the Americas that commemorates 150 years of China's presence in Panama.