Noche de luz, noche de paz, noche de blanca en el bautismal pila.
Yeovahny was baptized Friday night. A Christmas miracle! Last Sunday he came to church all on his own once again. He was going to get baptized before but was still going to a little evangelical church in las avispas. But Sunday he told us that he no longer goes to the other church and wanted to be baptized. So Friday when we went to his house to pick him up for his baptism, he was all alone at home. The positive side being that his parents were not home to convince him not to be baptized. The negative side being that he could not leave the house alone because of robbers, traditions, etc. It was up to Hna C and I to find a solution....Hna R was at church waiting for us to come back because the other baptisms were still finishing... so we began praying in our hearts and the neighbor who is somehow related to the family stopped by the house as we were talking to Yeovahny. We convinced her to watch the house for a short time and Yeovahny grabbed his clothes and we hurried to the church. Luckily a bus passed by quickly and we were off to the church by 8:15pm. The baptism was just the first part of the challenge.
Yesterday when we went to Yeovahny´s house, Remigio (recent convert) said that Yeovahny had passed by to tell him that he had to go fish and would meet us at the church. Hna C and I once again began praying. We stopped by other houses, unsuccessfully looking for investigators who all seemed to be asleep or had gone shopping in Guayaquil, and arrived to church in time for the sacrament. We slipped in but did not see Yeovahny anywhere.......but by the end of the Sacrament we looked out of one of the windows and saw YEOVAHNY bringing his bike into the church. We breathed a huge sigh of relief that he was able to be confirmed.
Friday night Ivana also was baptized. She is from the ward and is the 15 year old daughter of a convert. Two weeks ago I met her and her mom in the terminal in Guayaquil. We talked for just a couple minutes and then I invited her to be baptized for Christmas. The odd thing is that she has had the missionary discussions for a long time, even had an interview to be baptized and in the last minute decided not to be baptized. We still do not know what made the difference, but in the terminal she said she would think about it. Last Monday we were passing by her house and stopped to have her brother accompany us to teach a lesson. Then I remembered that we had invited her to be baptized and we needed follow up. We taught her for maybe 15 minutes and to our great surprise, she said YES to be baptized Friday. A miracle. This picture is right after her baptism. Everything was so quick in the service that we did not have the chance to take pictures before. We consider this baptism another Christmas gift.
The other baptisms were Michelle and Ariel. Their mom was baptized last week and they followed her example this weekend. It was really a special experience for the family. The dad and brother are coming to church as well so now we are going to work more with them to help them decide to be baptized!
I am thankful to be a missionary now during this time of my life. It is a great blessing to me. I know more fully that the gospel of Jesus Christ is real and changes lives. I love my Savior and what He did for me and for each of you...for all of those that I love....my brothers and sisters in the US and in Ecuador.
I am thankful for your support and letters.
love,
Hermana Garlock
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