Oi Familia week 46

November 25, 2013

Oi Familia!!!!

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!!! I hope you eat lots of turkey and mashed potatoes and cookie pie for me!! It will be pretty weird having thanksgiving in another country where that holiday doesn't exist! But that is ok because I have SO much to be thankful for!!! Just to name a few... I have the BEST family in the world!!! We have a Savior who loves each and every one of us!!! And I am serving in the best mission in the world and I LOVE IT!!!!! :) 

I am so happy to hear that your standard's night thing was so good! That is pretty cool you got to be the keynote speakers! And music is a perfect topic for you to speak on!! :) The talent show sounds like it was so fun too! 

And can I just say that I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!?!? It is the best! I love serving here with these people! There really is no where else in the world I would rather be right now!! 

This week I got the news that this past weekend.... ANA AND MANUEL ARE MARRIED AND BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! :) :) :) (That couple from Sal! Ana who started out SO Catholic and NEVER wanted to change OR get married!) I cannot put into words how happy that makes me!!!! :)

AND! If that wasn't happy enough news... Simone and Patrick are getting married and baptized next month!!!!! We have been talking with them for a few weeks now and they have wanted to get baptized since the very beginning. But getting married seemed a bit more complicated for them- even though it was something they knew they wanted. But yesterday they finally decided they will get married Decemeber 20th!!!! I am SO excited for them!! 

Then! We had the baptism of Wilson!! And he was quite the miracle! When we first started teaching him, he basically just wanted to argue with us. We weren't really sure we even wanted to keep trying to teach him. But we kept going, and every time he became a little more open. But only a little. Then he started coming to church. After church this past sunday, we talked with him a little bit, and decided to try to mark a baptism date with him. We figured he still needed a few weeks to be comfortable with that, so we asked him to be baptized on the first saturday in December. After we invited him, he sat there really quite for a moment. Then he told us how he has sat with missionaries like us before and has NEVER wanted to become a part of this church. He never agreed to a baptism date that any of those missionaries had given. He liked his church and wanted to stay there forever. But then he said how something has changed in the past couple weeks. He truly believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. He said he feels different when he talks to us. He said he would prepare himself to be baptized, but that the first week of December seems... like a long ways away! So he was baptized this past saturday!!! He got up and bore his testimony afterwards and said how happy he felt. How he knew this was the right decision. And how grateful he was to have this opportunity. And how he truly believes this is the true church :)

Well I love you all!!! I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving!! 

Love,

Sister Turley :)