Benjamin and Hno Vazquez were baptized!! The Lord truly helped and bless us this week to prepare them.
Benjamin: He has always had doubts about life, who he is, who God is, does He even exist? BUT slowly but surely I have seen those doubts of Benji's wash away. Looking back at who he was almost 4 months ago I can hardly recognize him. He has a hard life, so different the one that I have lived. Benji comes from a part member family, he lives with his mom, who is a less active. She unfortunately has never been very supportive of him, especially when it came to his decision to be baptized. And not having the support of his mother made Benji doubt his decision to be baptized. An incident happened yesterday happened in sacrament that made him get upset and leave.
Afterwards we went and found him and he broke down to us. He told us that he wants a family that the gospel promises us that we can have. We told him that if he lived the way that he knows that he should that he can one day have that family. I bore witness of how badly he needs this in his life, and how Satan is trying everything to stop him from going through with his decision to be baptized. Then I looked up and say Hna Duran coming through the door, aka my grandma and an angel in my eyes! I told Benji that this is his family here, that Hna Duran is his grandmother. She came over to us and was just smiling, she recently feel and really hurt her back and wrist. We started talking and she was holding on to her back, we told her that she probably has so much faith in the resurrection. The words she said afterward couldn't have been more perfect, they were an answer to mine, hna Martinez's and I know Benji's prayers. She bore a powerful witness, and just thinking about it right now brings tears to my eyes. She told all of us that we are here to be tested, that Satan tries to bring us down, tries to make us doubt what we know to be true, he wants us to be miserable like he is! She said, if we do everything that we keep all of the commandments, and do everything we need to in this life that we will be happy, not only in this life, but in the eternities. Then she looked and Benji and said, and your decision to be baptized is exactly what you need to do, I am so proud of you.
I know for a fact that she was sent to us in the very moment that we needed her to testify to Benji. Only God could design that. He is perfect and what was said was exactly what Benji needed to hear. 2 hours later he was baptized. He couldn't stop smiling. I know that his mom's heart was softened as she say him baptized. He said, "I feel so happy". THIS IS HAPPINESS!!
Hno Vazquez was so ready to get baptized!! He couldn't wait! His neighbor, a current bishop, gave us them as a referral. Bishop Rohm said he has been sending missionaries over to their house for 10 years, and we were finally able to teach them and help them see the truth. After their baptism, hno Vazquez stood up and shared how he always saw something different in his neighbor, bishop Rohm. Hno Vazquez said he wanted what Bishop Rohm had. He told us that he feels new, and that he is starting his new life in the gospel :) We know that his wife and children will quickly follow suite.
I know that often times things happen in our lives that make us feel like giving up. That we cannot do what we know that we should. That it would just be easier to go back to who we were, what we were doing before. BUT WE CANNOT. There is too much on the line. Our eternal happiness depends on it. The decisions that we make everyday are vital to our salvation. This quote that one of my friends sent me goes perfect with this:
"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Prov. 3:11–12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain." -Elder Richard G. Scott
We can never ever take a day for granted. Our Savior is always here to help us through everything. We must rely on Him fully. "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12) We never are alone when we walk with Jesus Christ :) Of these things I testify, in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love you and miss you so much my family and friends! Stand strong and immovable.
Hermana Shea McCartt
1. Benji was baptized!!
2. Hno Vazquez and his family and us :)
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| Benji wanted Elder Holloway to baptize him. It was his first baptism ever!! He goes home in 2 weeks. You could say he was honored :) |
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| Benji is getting baptized |
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| Hno and Obispo Rohm |
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| Sister Harper and I |
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| My little Isabella and I |
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