Family,
Alright im just going to jump into this whirlwind of a story and let all of you know the biggest miracles that have happened in my mission so far... This is going to be going all over the place because there are so many little details so just hold onto your seats for a little bit.
It all started this last Sunday (16th) when i was praying right before going to bed and i was thinking about what God was wanting me to do in the last full week of my mission. I really wasn´t even thinking too much about baptisms but just what God expected of me the last week and then a thought came into my head "Teresa".
Quick side note: Teresa is the mom of Zulema (17 years old) that should have been baptized with her son Gabriel (12 years old) when Zulema got baptized last month. They didn´t get baptized because the ex husband was against the idea and said that if they got baptized he would never visit them again and he would stop help paying for rent and for food. We were pretty bummed about it but felt good that they could be baptized in the future. They´ve been coming to church for the last weeks but we´ve had terrible communication with them and had only visited them maybe 2 times within 3 weeks and they were the worst visits ever because the family has been going through some really hard times.
Alright now back to Sunday the 16th. So after that thought came to my mind i knew we had to go visit Teresa and her family. The next morning the 17th i looked at our agenda and we had visits all in the afternoon after preparation day and there werent any open hours to visit Teresa. As we went through the day, we called the people we had set up visits with and one of them cancelled on us. When they cancelled, i looked at Elder Pearson and said, "we have to visit Teresa". We called them and she answered excited to talk to us and said that we could come over that night. Elder Pearson and i talked for a litte bit about what we wanted to share with them and we decided that we were just going to focus the whole lesson on baptism. We got there to there house and they were happy to see us and be together. Teresa told us that the weekend before (friday andsaturday the 14th and 15th) she had gone with her kids to a couple of church activities that the members had invited her to. This was a huge miracle because on saturday it was a stake activity and everyone was going to Vitoria but she didnt have the money to go. She had called her ex husband and explained to him that she wanted to go, so he put some more money in her bank account just so she could go with Zulema. Big change of heart from the dad who before didnt want anything to do with the church. As we then taught about baptism, Teresa expressed her desire to be baptized but that she was afraid, this time not because of the ex husband, but because she was afraid to not be able to keep the commandments after baptism. We talked about how nobody is perfect even after baptism and we promised her that God would help her. We left the house with a visit set for the next day and the invitation for her and Gabriel to pray about baptism and what God wanted them to do.
Tuesday the 18th. We called the Bishop and asked him to come to the visit and he was happy to come. We told the Bishop about Teresa´s desire to be baptized and that we were going to try to set a date for them. After singing and praying to start the lesson, we immediately asked them how they felt when the prayed about baptism. Both of them said that they felt like it was what God wanted them to do but Teresa was still afraid of messing up after baptism. The bishop just took control and told her that it was okay, we just try to do our best but that she needed the blessings of baptism in her life right now. It was a powerful testimony and the spirit was strong. We then invited them to be baptized for that weekend the 22nd. Teresa said, "THIS weekend??" pause..... "vale!" (okay) We were so excited and were amazed at the changes that had taken place and that God had guided us to them and to help them be baptized that weekend.
Wednesday the 19th. Everything was good and everyone was happy. We stopped by Teresa´s house in the morning and had planned to teach about the word of wisdom and tithing because we felt like those were 2 things that were the hardest for her. When we got there, we felt like we needed to make sure everything was alright with Gabriel getting baptized without the permission of his father. Instead of going over the word of wisdom and tithing we just talked about how it would be good for Gabriel to call his dad and ask for permission or at least let him know that he was getting baptized. We had to leave really fast because we were going to do an exchange with the Vitoria Elders and we had to catch a bus. So we left her without going over the commandments but told her to read over the interview questions with Gabriel so that they would be ready. We were just praying that everything would be alright for the interview.
Thursday the 20th. We had to travel the whole day because Elder Pearson and i had to get back together after the exchange and we had some other baptismal interviews that we had to do in the Zone, one in Vitoria and the other in Logroño. We got back to Bilbao at about 7:30 but we still didnt have time to visit Teresa because we had to set up the chapel for the Zone conference that we were going to have the next day. So we just called Teresa to make sure that everything was alright and it seemed like it was so we told her, "ok we´ll see you tomorrow for the interview!"
Friday the 21st. We went with our district leader Elder Thimmig and his comp Elder Frederich to go do the interview for Teresa and Gabriel. Teresa started and everything sounded like it was going well in the other room. But as Elder Thimmig got to the tithing question, she wasnt willing to pay it. She had thought that it was okay to not pay tithing until you had enough to pay it. She was worried about her econimic situation and that she wouldnt be able to pay for the house and for food and take care of her 2 kids. She came out of the interview furious finding out that she couldnt be baptized the next day. We sat down with her and talked about tithing and she wouldnt have it. She said that God understood her situation and that she didnt need to pay it until she got a better job. She didnt even stay in the room for the last prayer she was so mad that she just walked out of the room. We finished with a prayer with Zulema and Gabriel and were devestated.
Saturday the 22nd. We didnt even think about calling Teresa because we knew that she needed her space and we didnt want her to feel like she was being pressured. We had invited her to another activity that we were having that night in the church but of course she didnt show up and neither did Zulema or Gabriel. I thought i was never going to see her again.
Sunday the 23rd. Teresa and Gabriel didnt show up to church. Normal. Zulema miraculously showed up like 20 minutes late. She didnt talk to us though. We shook her hand and she just went to her classes. But, here´s where the miracles started happening again. Some members found out about what happened and they decided that they were going to call Teresa and invite her to another activity of collecting old clothes for the poor that was going to happen that night at 6 in the church. We had no idea that the members had called her and invited her. We went to the activity because we had a lot of left clothes in our piso that we were going to donate. Right before going out to the activity, Elder Pearson brought up the idea that we should fast just for Teresa and Gabriel. We started the fast and then headed out to the church. When we got there, there was Teresa helping out with all the clothes. We were shocked. We went up to her and started talking to her. She seemed a little happier but we could tell that she was still upset about not being baptized so we didnt bring it up. After the activity, Bishop decided to drive some women of the ward home to their separate houses. Teresa went with them as well. Of course our Bishop being the amazing man that he is, talked to Teresa while in the car and explained to her the need of her paying her tithing and being baptized (we had no idea this was all happening by the way). At about 8:00 the bishop called us and said, "Elders, i need you to call your district leader and tell him that we need a baptismal interview for a baptism that we´ll be having on tuesday at 8:00. Im here with Teresa and she´s accepted to pay tithing." I was speechless and didnt know what to say to the Bishop. I just kind of laughed and said are you kidding me? He said that he was serious and that she and Gabriel needed to be interviewed again so that they could be baptized before i left this wednesday to Barcelona.
Today. We had the baptismal interviews this morning and they´re all ready to go to be baptized tomorrow at 8:00. It all happened because the members and the Bishop stepped in and took over. Biggest miracles that i´ve seen in my mission.
Love you family. Dad, mom, Jon and Leah, i´ll see you soon.
Elder Reeves
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