We found a family this week that has been taught by the
missionaries for over two years but never was baptized. We arrived and taught a
lesson where the spirit was so strong you could cut it with a knife. The
mom and the son accepted to be baptized this Saturday. Everything was
going really well, we passed there every day to teach and the spirit was
always so strong, but when Saturday arrived the dad didn’t want to get
baptized, fear of entering into something new and stuff like that. Wants
more time to think and prepare (like 2 years isn’t enough). The wife and the
son want really badly to be baptized, but they also don’t want to be
baptized if the father isn’t baptized too at the same time. A little
frustrating for us missionaries, but you have to respect the free agency of
your investigators. Your purpose as a missionary is to teach the restored
gospel with the spirit, and baptize the people if they want to follow the
spirit that they are feeling. Sometimes you just want to grab the people by the
collar and throw them in the water because you KNOW that’s what’s best for
them, but you just can’t.
Preach my Gospel
explains it something like this: you know you are a successful missionary
if you can feel the spirit work through you as you find and teach people. Whether
or not the accept doesn’t have anything to do with your success.
But one cool thing that happened is that we went to do a
baptismal interview in the ward where I served 6 months ago. I took the
opportunity to visit a family where I baptized the daughters but the parents weren’t married at that
time so they couldn’t. They still are active and happy in the church and
the marriage papers are almost done, so here in a couple of weeks they can get
baptized!!! I probably will still be here which is good because S tells
all the missionaries that the only person that will baptize him will be me. They
even were going to name their baby "Kevin", (D is 8
and a half months pregnant) but they found out that it’s going to be a
girl. When I talked with them I got to see the great change that happened
in their lives in the past six months since me and Elder P baptized
them. It is one great testimony that the Gospel really does change lives. It’s
amazing to see.
The mission is an experience that I can’t explain; you are changing
lives for eternity every single day.
Love you all!
-Elder Leete
