A Labor of Love: Humble Seekers of Happiness

HOLA Amigos :)

A CRAZY week. Crazy good :) Exchanges, and a Baptism! And an even crazier week waits us... we are going to be able to work in our area a total of like 2 days... NO.

Anyways.... SUCH a happy week!

Because... Mario was baptized! Yay! It was such an incredible experience. I think about the whole miracle that we have seen and the whole process and how much the ward has really come together to help Mario. I`m pretty sure we brought about 20 different members to help us teach. They truly were changed by him, almost as much as us :) He was so prepared... I have loved watching him truly put forth so much effort to be able to remember. He passed the interview with flying colors :)

The baptism was so beautiful! Although there were quite a few complications... one of the major complications being the font... holy moly. First the pump broke so we couldn`t drain the font from the nasty water that was there before, they fixed it... then it broke again when we realized that the water to fill it up was dirty.... ahhh. There was no other option but to have the baptism in yucky water. I was so worried about it, that when we opened the door for the service everyone would gasp... haha that`s what I did, but at the end of the day, I realized that it didn`t matter what color the water was or how many people came, but the sacred covenant Mario was making with Heavenly Father. In the end no one even really noticed the water haha :)

The service was so beautiful! The missionaries in our district sang "I`m a child of God" with Mario. We taught him line by line the first verse and he finally memorized it :) The spirit filled the room as he humbly sang alongside us :) Bishop Rojas baptized him. Our Bishop is a pretty serious and sometimes has a not so sensitive character... but when he helped Mario come out of the water... (which was also a little complicated... because of his health issues) you could just feel the love he felt for him. They stood in the water hugging for a good minute :) It was absolutely precious! Afterwards Mario shared his feelings he got up and said.... "I feel so happy. I can`t explain... I don`t know what to say...." and stood there for a good 30 seconds when the bishop came and stood by his side and said... "Mario that`s the spirit." Such joy :) Sunday, the morning of his confirmation we asked him how he was and he said... "Tired... I went to bed late last night..." We asked why... he said..."...so excited, waiting for today!" So adorable.

As I watched Mario come out of the green water, in white, so pure so humble, with the biggest smile on his face I realized what pure joy was. He is so humble. And so happy.... (Alma 27:18) "Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold this is joy which none recieveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness." Mario is truly a humble seeker of happiness... True happiness.

Other miracle... A less active family. I guess the ward has tried for many years to reactivate this family and had little success. This week our ward had a spring family dance and we decided to pass by and invite this family. Surprisingly enough they said yes, and we set up an appointment for the next day too! Anyways Graciella (la mama) y Zoe (la hija 11, she`s precious and isn`t baptized yet, we`ll fix that ;) came! The dance started SUPER late.. (like 4 hours late... Argentina Standard Time haha) and to entertain them for a bit we showed them around the church, Graciella hadn`t entered a church in 11 years. When we entered the Sacrament Room she was silent. The next day when we had our lesson with them she told us that right after that she sent a text to her husband saying... "You don`t know the feeling I just had as I entered the sacrament meeting room..." Through tears she told us that she couldn`t explain what she felt. We challenged them to come to church the next day... and THEY CAME! First time in 11 years.

The feeling I had when I saw them walk through those doors is unexplainable... I can only imagine how our Heavenly Father felt. :) He truly loves his children, and is happy when they are happy. As a missionary I have never been so sure of that as I am now! He loves us and as a representative of Jesus Christ what a blessing it is to testify of that pure love that He has for every one of His children :)

Con Amor, Hermana Matheson