Monday, July 11, 2011

God bless the USA

Denny's YES!!

wedding

Family Baptism!!

Hey Fam,
Well we did it!!! We finally got the wedding to go through and everything went just as planned. This week has been a long awaited one. We spent a lot of time just making sure everything and everyone was ready for the weekend cuz we had the wedding planned friday morning at 8, and then the baptism of the mom (Zulema) and the son (Jóse). Zulema was one of the first people I met in this area. The ward had invited her to a Baby Shower at the church and she went and loved everything about the unity of the church.. the only problem was that she didnt want to get married, or let a lone get baptized. After nearly 8 weeks of working with them, they have recieved answers to their prayers, we got the paperwork for the wedding ready, and they are now baptized and confirmed.. and a family completed!
Everything about the marriage and baptism was just perfect. Im sending a couple pictures of the wedding and things. Its way different here in the city, doing a marriage, but everything went well. There were a surprising 20 other couples getting married Friday morning at 8 so they felt a little more comfortable not being the only ones, cuz the truth is, we had no idea what to expect. After the wedding, they took us both, and all the others that were invited to Dennys for breakfast. Ive always wanted to go there cuz its the closest thing to america here in the city so it was just amazing. He makes pretty good money and just dropped it on us. Him and his now wife were just super happy the whole morning.
The baptism was incredible, even though it went off of honduran timing, or in other words 45 minutes late, everything went good. Jóse, the son, when we started teaching his mom he wanted nothing to do with us, he is 16 and sooooo much like Tadd its amazing. It was something else though cuz he really did recieve an aswer to his prayers, its been an incredible growth and maturity that we have seen in him. There were over 25 members that came to the baptism to support them and they felt the love by everyone.
I dont have much time today but this is the highlight of the 2 changes that I have had here, completing a family! This is without a doubt the true and only church. If you look at the man that was criticized the most in the world, Jesus Christ, and the church (once you leave utah) that is criticized the most, its just a clear answer which is the true church. I just passed 450 days mark in my journal and got my first bag of juice thrown at me and another missionary when I was on divisions yesterday for the first time as a District Leader. They assigned me as District Leader this last change I just forgot to tell you. We got juice thrown at us just for walking through a soccer field that kids made in the middle of the street.. but whatever, theres gotta be a first time for everything I guess! I love the mission, just wish time would slow down a bit!!
I love you all soooooo much, and hope you enjoy the pics!!
Love your Missionary,
Elder Gardner