What a week! Elder Walgren and I were able to witness a miracle this past week. Let me explain, so my very first day here in this area Elder Hernandez and I contacted a woman named Rocio. Elder Hernandez and I started teaching her and it was very obvious that in her youth she was never taught the commandments of God. We came to know that she was struggling with a lot of addictions, however she didn't know that what she was doing wasn't necessarily bad in the eyes of God. We started to teach her the lessons and each lesson we taught the spirit was very strong testifying of each truths of the gospel that we taught her. She decided to come to church for the first time about 6 weeks ago. Her very first time she got up to introduce herself in front of the relief society and said, "I am hungry to learn and to see if this church is true." We than started to teach the commandments and invited her to make the needed changes in her life to be happier. We taught all the commandments that are necessary for baptism about 4 weeks ago. This past Wednesday we had a lesson with Rocio to check how she has been doing with keeping the commandments. I was honestly expecting her to tell us that she had still been struggling to keep them and that it was going to take a while until she could be baptized. However after we passed over all the commandments on Wednesday we understood that she was keeping all of the commandments that we had taught her. I was shocked that she was able to drop all of her bad habits so quick! We than asked her what would be something that is holding her back from being baptized. She responded and said, "well what do I need before I can get baptized?" We than did a practice baptism interview and she passed with flying colors! She was ready and had a strong testimony about the church. We than explained to her and her son that they were ready to be baptized and take this big step in their life. They agreed that it was time. However, Rocio told us that she was going to have surgery on Saturday and that she was going to be in bed recovering for about 3 weeks. Elder Walgren and I than invited them to be baptized on Friday, one day before her surgery. They accepted and right after that we called up our district leader to come and do the interview. He came over and did it and than we called President for special permission to do the confirmation of the Holy Ghost right after the baptism service. We got permission from our Mission President and than we starting calling the whole ward saying that we were going to be having a baptism on Friday! Friday rolled around and we had zone conference and had to give a training session to the zone about the Book of Mormon. After the zone conference we had to run on over to the church to fill up the baptismal font and get everything ready. Rocio, Jaziel, and the members got there at 7 and we started the baptism service. The baptism turned out wonderful. The spirit was present and it was an unforgettable moment. I sat in the bathroom after the ordinance just thinking of how God can help people change their evil traditions. It reminded me a lot about the scriptures found in Helaman 15:7-9. I was amazed about how Rocio was able to change so quick. Talking to her at the end of the service I felt like I was talking to a different person than when I first met her. I now understand what it means when Jesus told us that we must be born of water and of the spirit. I testify that if we look at people not for who they are but who they can become we can be instruments in Gods hands to do miracles in the lifes of others. Oh and to end, Marco gave a talk in church yesterday! I love this work. Have a great week.
Love, Elder Gibson
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