We had a great baptism this last weekend. I just wanted to write some of the story about Zulema, Sofia and Kevin. About 2 months ago, we saw a guy in the street that seemed like he was kind of lost. We went up to him and started talking to him. His name was Oscar and he gave us his info really easily and said we could pass by his house another day. It almost seemed like one of those contacts who just quickly gives you fake info so that we just go away but it turned out to be the right address and the right number! We went to teach him a couple of days later and met his family, Noemi his wife, and his kids Sofia (15 years old) and Kevin (13 years old). Sofia and Kevin were really shy and didnt say much in the lessons but Noemi LOVED everything we taught. After the first couple of lessons they finally agreed to set a date for baptism. Noemi was the most excited and was reading every day in the Book of Mormon. Sofia and Kevin were reading because Noemi was telling them to read but they still werent very excited about everything. While teaching them, we met their cousins Zulema (17 years old) and Gabriel (12 years old) and their aunt Teresa (Oscar´s sister). We started teaching their family as well and all of them started progressing. Zulema caught on really quick and loved coming to church and reading in the Book of Mormon. As we kept teaching these 2 families, we found out some pretty sad news. 1. Oscar and Noemi werent married and cant get baptized until they do get married. Noemi was heart broken when we told her that she couldnt get baptized. Oscar wasnt too excited about the idea about getting married and just kept pushing it to the side. And 2. Teresa worked every weekend and couldnt come to church. But then, miracles started happening. Teresa gave up her work and came to church with her kids. Sofia and Kevin still werent excited about baptism and we found out that they hadn´t been praying at all. We kept inviting them to pray to know if they should be baptized but they still werent doing it. So we decided to invite their whole family to have family prayers every day, in hopes that Sofia and Kevin would soon catch on and start praying. About a week later, Kevin was ready and excited to be baptized. Teresa, Zulema and Gabriel were also excited and wanting to be baptized. This last sunday (the 5th) we announced their baptism for this saturday (11th) of all 5 of them: Teresa, Zulema, Gabriel, Sofia and Kevin. After hearing the announcement in church, Sofia was NOT happy because she still wasnt feeling prepared for baptism. We told her that she didnt need to be baptized but all we were inviting her to do was to pray and ask God if she should be baptized on that weekend. The next day, she prayed. She felt and knew that she needed to be baptized. Elder Pearson and I felt so blessed and knew that God was answering all of our prayers and the prayers of our investigators. We went throughout the week making preparations for the baptisms and then went to Teresa´s house on Friday to have the interviews of all 5 of them. As we got to her house, everyone was happy and smiling as we were getting ready to do the interviews. Then out of nowhere, the unthinkable happened. Teresa said, "Gabriel and i wont be getting baptized this weekend. Im so sorry" The whole room went silent and Elder Pearson and I didnt know what to say. At first we thought she was joking because she loves to make jokes but then by the look on her face we realized she was being completely serious. We asked her what had happened and what was stopping her from being baptized the next day. She kind of avoided our questions and wasnt answering or telling us why they werent getting baptized. We testified to them of all the miracles that they had seen and the spirit that they had felt. We invited them at least to have the baptismal interview and to see how they felt. Teresa refused to have her interview and Gabriel said ok. But after his interview he still said that he didnt feel ready. Zulema, Sofia and Kevin passed their interviews and were all ready to go. After inviting Teresa and Gabriel to pray about what God wants them to do, we left the house a little confused and a little bit discouraged. We called Teresa again that night to talk to her more in private to see what was going on and she opened up a little bit more to us. She said that she had talked to her husband (who shes separated from) who lives in Barcelona and told him that she and the kids were going to be baptized. The husband was furious and said that if they got baptized that he would never talk to them or see them again. So Teresa made the decision that they werent going to get baptized but still allowed Zulema to make the step.
So it wasnt the baptism that we were hoping for this last weekend but it was still an incredible service. There were a lot of members there, especially the young men and women of the ward. They all sang a special musical number and the Spirit was super strong during the service. Zulema asked Elder Pearson to baptize her and Sofia and Kevin asked me to baptize them. It was a happy day. We're still going to be working with Teresa and Gabriel to see if we can get the permission of the father and we're still praying that Oscar has a change of heart and that him and Noemi can get married soon. I love these 2 families and i know satan is trying hard to stop them from being in Gods pathway but God is making miracles happen.
Love you all fam
Elder Reeves
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