"Therefore, Come And Be Baptized Unto Repentance, That Ye May Be Washed From Your Sins!"

Hey guys!

Elder Johnson and I had a great week and some amazing spiritual experiences. On Monday after our zone meeting, we went over to the house of a guy named Jose Luis. We had met him a few days before while we were walking. He was over to the side of the road drinking and said hi to us and called us over so we went and talked to him for a little and put an appointment. So we went and applied what we had taught the zone in our meeting about loving and teaching others as if they were your own family and teaching according to their needs. We talked and he mentioned how he always felt unsettled and not in peace and how he would like to start anew. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about how through faith, we repent and are forgiven if we truly forsake and feel sorrow for our sins. We then taught how through baptism we are washed clean of our sins and wrong-doings and that through following Jesus Christ we receive a remission of our sins and peace through the spirit. We felt the power of the Holy Spirit in that moment and identified with him that what he was feeling (which he described as peace, happiness, and something big inside of him) was the spirit and invited him to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ and he accepted! We plan to baptize him this Sunday since we are still helping him to stop drinking. Cool thing is we have a member in our ward who used to be an alcoholic and has helped the stake out with the Church's recovery program so he is helping us to help Jose Luis to stop drinking.

On Wednesday, we went to our convert's house to try teach some of her non-member family members and we found her husband Oscar there so he listened to us. He said that he really needed a change in his life and that he would love to go to church and everything and be with his wife and kids there and feel and have more peace in his life. We taught him that through repentance and baptism, we can receive that peace and guidance through the spirit which we receive after baptism. The spirit was strongly present and we invited him to be baptized and he accepted also! We plan to baptize him this Sunday.

Also, on Saturday we had a neat experience with one of our investigators, Maria. She had previously listened to missionaries and had wanted to be baptized but her husband forbade her to. We taught her about the importance to follow Christ through baptism and how even though there might be opposition, there will always be a way for us to complete with the Lord's command if we want to and if we strive hard do all we can to complete His will. She accepted to pray for a confirmation to know the Lord's will concerning her and for courage to talk to her husband to get permission. She shared with us her amazing experience that she had that after she prayed about her baptism and for the Lord to help her make a sure decision, she opened her Book of Mormon and stumbled upon some scriptures that the sister missionaries had marked for her in her book that happened to be Alma chapter 7 verses 11 through 16. She was impacted by those scriptures and as we discussed the importance of that answer of God to her in that moment, we were touched by the spirit and she realized that no matter what, she needed to be baptized and follow Christ. She decided and is firm in her decision and told us that she will just let her husband know that she has made a decision and that with his permission or not, she was going to follow Jesus Christ. She is very enthusiastic and excited for her upcoming baptism which is scheduled for May 10.

We are doing great and I hope you all are too! Love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego