I wish there was a river nearby

Okay a story from El Carmen that I forgot to mention and just can't not tell. The Saturday before I left, someone rang our doorbell. No one wanted to answer-so I did. I open the door and there are the Testigos de Jehova or the Jehovah's Witnesses. The poor girl had a look of terror on her face when she she saw my name tag. But I really admired her courage because she went right on ahead and invited me to their Easter service. She shared a passage from the Bible with me and I could tell she just wanted to get out of there as fast as she could. Well being a missionary, I couldn't let her go without inviting her to learn more about our religion. She said the invitation was mutual. Well Presidente has really been stressing how we have to ask referrals from everyone so I also asked her for a referral. She looked at me like I was so crazy! And basically told me that she was on her own search for people to teach. Haha

So Bella Vista is just a small branch and we meet in an old bakery. It's really quite charming.

We already had a baptism- Jose Luis and Maria Lujan. They are kid neighbors of a member family who brings them to church. When I first got here, my companion said that we had a for sure baptism...but we have to get permission from their mom. So we went over to their house all prepared to teach and share from the scriptures and she just said, "Yeah they can get baptized if they want." And it was easy as that.

What wasn't easy was preparing the baptimal ¨font¨. Really it's just a kiddie pool. But we had to drain all the water using buckets and clean it out and scrub it down. And it had to fill all night long. A river would be easier! But it was a success and so was the baptism! Their mom said she wasn't going to come but when we got to the chapel she was there with the kids waiting.

On Sunday when they got confirmed, the Spirit was so strong. And it just made me so grateful that I had the gift of the Holy Ghost my whole life to guide me while growing up and how Jose Luis and Lujan will have that guidance too. What a blessing!

Well I sure do love you all. Make sure ya'll watch conference!

Hermana Pearson

The quaint font in Bella Vista