Baptism Interview with Claudia and Marcela got baptized!!

 Sent: Monday, August 22, 2011 11:10 AM

To: jsbever
Subject: Re: Hi from Utah!!

 Hey Everybody sounds like you all are having a fun time dropping Ethan off in BYU. It looks like Ethan is so ready to start off a BYU.

 This week was so cool. To start off i had a really cool experience with a lady that i interviewed for her baptism on Wednesday. i went on divisions to do four interviews but then the Elder that i was with Elder Ñañez (from Peru) told me that he wanted to do a last minute interview with one last investigator. Her name was Claudia she has been investigating the church for the past i don't know three years or so. her son is on the mission and the rest of her kids are all members. But anyway we get to do the interview there in the chapel in Nauhuizalco (that's the name of the area). And anyway Elder Ñañez just shoves me in the room with her and we just started talking right of the bat. She said that she didn't want to get baptized still, and she went off on all of the bad examples that the members there had been setting for the people there. She was just there coming up with every possible excuse not to get baptized for like 30 minutes. And i just got the impression that i just needed to sit there and listen to her. So i just sat there without saying a single word, and then i told her: What do you want me to tell you? I'm not going to lie and tell you that members of the church make wrong decisions sometimes. But then i felt that i should ask her if she had a testimony of the church and she told me that she did. Then i told her: "animese y haga lo que tiene que hacer" or basically take a breath and do what you know you need to do. This was all before the interview. Then she said alright ask me the questions and she past the interview and then got baptized the next day Thursday! So that was like a super cool experience i told Elder Alvarado (who had taught Claudia before) that she was going to get baptized and he couldn't believe me. It was such a cool experience i just listened to what the spirit was saying and did it. All of the Elders were like wow!!!!! what did you say to her?????!!!! But really i didn't say anything it was the spirit.

 The Spirit has been so strong this weekend. The same day on Thursday Marcela the girl that i told you all about finally got permission from her dad to get baptized so she got baptized as well!!! That was really cool Marcela got up and gave her testimony afterwards, and i had never heard a stronger testimony from a 13 year old than in that moment. And then we got to go to the special conference with President Eyering and Elder Cristofferson (by the way elder cristofferson can speak perfect Spanish). We could feel the spirit so strongly they were telling us about how we as missionaries can be special witnesses of Christ as well. We didn't get to shake his hand or anything like that but i came to the conclusion that i didn't need to to know that they are prophets of God and they literally have seen Christ. Then on Saturday we got to to the stake center to watch the cultural celebration, i saw lots of young men and young women that i had met in many of my past areas it was a super cool experience we tried inviting some of the investigators that we have but right now that is the problem that we seem to be having is that we don't have very many investigators.

 

But then yesterday helped me out so much. The temple dedication.... President Eyering in the last session prophesied that the gospel is going to be taught to the Asian continent from missionaries from central and south America. Everyone was awestruck when he said it. He started out in the last session in the last talk and said "I feel impressed to share something that i wasn't planning on sharing.... and then he started talking about how he needed to be careful when members of the 12 apostles and first presidency make prophesies. By that time everybody in the entire stake center was paying super close attention. He explained that in the next few years the members in El Salvador are not only going to bless the lives of only the country of El Salvador but are going to bless the entire world in a way that nobody in the general authorities of the church had thought before. That before President Kimball showed a chart about how he predicted that the gospel was to arrive to Asia. He had a chart made showing arrows, representing missionaries, coming from western United states to japan and china and other Asian countries. But at the last minute he had it changed so that the arrows were coming from central America and south America. In that moment all of the missionaries were thinking in the son of President Cordon who just got his call to go to Taiwan and he is from Guatemala!! Imagine that!!! So that was super cool. But it was just amazing at the amount of promises that our heavenly Father has prepared for this country. And in that moment i felt an impression that i am going to be coming back here some day. And not just for vacation, i don't know what for. After the dedication i went immediately to look at my patriarchal blessing and i found a lot of interesting stuff.

 But all in all I've had a super spiritual week and i hope to now be able to go to the temple soon and see two of the families that i baptized get sealed in the temple before i leave.

 But i love you guys so much sorry i wrote so much this week. Here are some of the pictures i attached from the baptism of Marcela and the baptism of Claudia the lady that i interviewed.

 Love you all

Elder Bever  

On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 5:56 PM, jsbever <jsbever@molalla.net> wrote:

Hi Son,

 Well, we are in Utah now staying at Grandma’s house.  Emily wasn’t able to make it as she has daily doubles this week so she is staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  As I recall we did the same thing when we took you up here for school.  So we drove to the cabin on Thursday and stayed overnight and then drove on to Lehi to Grandma’s.  It is very warm here in the 90 degrees.  I heard you have a tropical storm there.  I hope it hasn’t gotten in the way of the temple dedication.  I can’t wait to hear all about it in your email.  What an experience of a lifetime to be there with Pres. Erying and Pres. Uchdorf.  Yesterday we helped Jaycee move into here apt in Wyview Park apartments.  She had been planning this day for a year.  I have never seen anyone bring so much stuff for her apartment.  I think she’s preparing too soon for marriage! Anyway, she and Ethan seem to have a fun time together.  We are going back to BYU tomorrow and get his BYU ID and text books.  I heard campus has changed a lot so we’ll see tomorrow. Have a wonderful week and I remember how strong the spirit is in the temple so you can apply this same strength when you’re out proselyting. I love you and miss you lots!!!

 ---MOM

 Hey Thomas!

So how was the temple dedication? There was an article in today’s Utah paper about the dedication and it seems like it would be an amazing experience to be there for. Anyway, we’re here at grandma’s and just drove in late Friday night. I move in on Wednesday and we just moved in JC yesterday. She is staying in Heritage Halls so she’s with three other roommates. It was nice to see Nick and Teresa yesterday and their family, I haven’t seen them in a long while! Jaycee’s really excited for school and so am I! I can tell we’ll have a blast this semester! I think we’re going to the bookstore tomorrow afternoon and I’ll get all my BYU attire squared away. So I’ll be sure to write you every Sunday like normal, it’ll just be from BYU! YAY!

 Have a great week and I’m looking forward to hearing about the dedication!

-Love, Ethan