Well this week was
pretty intense here in the WKM. So yesterday we were fortunate to have the
baptism of a guy who we shall call Bill (that’s not his actual name but like
liability stuff man it’s the worst). So a little bit of background on Bill. He
was looking for a job and found one with a member here in Othello and then
actually moved in on their property to a little house they have for rent with
the member's two grandsons who were working together. Well 2 years later they came
to be really close, even to the point that Bill started going to their family
reunions. So about 2 months ago, some stuff happened down in Mexico that really
shook him up so he asked the members he lived with if he could go to church, to
which they agreed. Well, he absolutely loved it. After that day in church (keep
in mind he speaks English but very limited) he ended up meeting with the Sister
missionaries assigned to that ward. They taught him a lesson or two but since
his English was somewhat limiting him, they handed him over to us so we could
teach him in Spanish. Well we come to our first lesson with him and ask him if
he had read any of the Book of Mormon. He says that the past week when we were
supposed to meet (for one reason or another it fell through) he woke up early
that morning and couldn't fall back asleep because he felt like he should read
the book, so he decided he would. He said he read it super fast and remembered
what he read which was super rare for him since he didn't have any schooling,
and because of that it had to be true, and consequently everything else must
therefore be true. It was one of those times where there was no way he wasn't
prepared in advance.
So after that first
lesson we had with Bill we ended up putting him on date for baptism for about a
month away. The teaching process went great and it didn't even feel like
teaching. Honestly at this point it could have been a robot for what it’s worth
since he was soaking up everything we taught him. He was reading and praying
and just seemed so happy. When we taught the Word of Wisdom (the Lord's law of health which includes
among other things no smoking/tobacco/etc) he said that the day before he woke
up and said he felt like he should throw away his 2 boxes of chew. It’s the
little things like that that kind of just make your jaw drop and leave you in
amazement at everything the Lord has done for you.
So fast forward to
this past week which was like the craziest week ever. As missionaries there are
certain things we have to teach before someone is baptized so they know what
the heck is going on and at the start of this week we still had a lesson and a
half to go over (which would normally take 2 weeks meeting twice a week). Well
Tuesday he had his baptismal interview (something the church does to make sure
candidates are ready) and passed. So we said “Bill, we need to meet a couple
times still before Sunday” and we then asked if Wednesday would be good but he
said no because he had to go somewhere so we said Thursday. Well Thursday
morning we call to confirm and he says he got sick and is on his way to Royal
City to pick up some medicine so we start to silently freak out since there are
only two days to go before his Baptism so we so okay we will be over tomorrow.
We head over Friday and have a great lesson and then go back again Saturday to
finish it all off. To top it off his girlfriend had come down from Spokane
Saturday afternoon to attend church with him - except she didn't speak Spanish.
Still struggling to figure out how that all worked out seeing as he doesn't
speak a ton of English but alas, I guess the language of love is universal.
Anyways church went good and Sunday night we had an awesome baptismal service
for Bill. I will admit working with Hispanics has its struggles ("mi mama
dice que no esta" ring a bell anyone?) but they are some of the best
people I know. After the baptism the Elders Quorum president went up to him and
said - having only known Bill for a matter of hours - that if he needed
anything, the ward can help him out. The spirit of brotherly love was
definitely manifest last night. It was just a great experience overall.
And that about sums it
up for this week. To end I quote my zone leader. Don't think this needs much
explanation.
"It doesn't
matter how good you are; it just matters how much swag you got."
Well I hope everyone
has a fantastic week and I will write again in 7 days time. Adios!
Elder Kupferer
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