Angie Vasquez is Baptized!!

This week has been absolutely amazing, stressful, but busy!! Monday started out with most of our appointments canceling so we went to Presidente Carrasquillo's house to teach a friend of his son who had questions about the church in english. We tried to teach him the first lesson but we later found out in the lesson he only came because he was determined to prove our church wrong and to get more material for his lesson he was going to teach the youth in his church about our church being a cult and non-christians... it was an interesting experience but it was amazing how our simple testimonies he couldn't dispute. Its so hard because my heart hurts for them just to know the truth and really want to search for the truth and open their hearts.. but the experience also made me happy I'm a spanish missionary!! Tuesday we had interviews and training with President and Sister Smith.. I love them!! We are focusing on the Book of Mormon this transfer and introducing it at the begining of our lessons and using it in door contacts and all.. so as a mission we all got the Book of Mormons we pass out everyday and we are reading it twice together as a mission.
The first time we are marking everytime the Book of Mormon refers to Jesus Christ or God plus all the pronouns.. then the next time we are marking key doctrines. I am through first Nephi marking the names of God and Jesus Christ and it is AMAZING!! You should all do it.. I've never known how much every page of the Book of Mormon helps us see more about our Father in Heaven and his son.. It truly is another testament of Jesus Christ.. each page hold precious truths! I also had an amazing interview with President Smith and as we were sitting there he said, "Hermana Barber there are 1...no 2... no 3 families waiting to be baptized in this area before Christmas. You need to take your greenie and go knock some doors." It was amazing to see him receive that revelation for me and our area right on the spot.. he is definitely called of God. So if you couldn't have guessed.. we went out and knocked some doors!! Within an hour we had talked to a man that said reincarnation and resurrection are the exact same thing, another man who said the reason we don't hear about Jesus in the Bible before his ministry at 33 is because he was abducted by aliens, and another lady that said she has the same power that Jesus Christ had because he gave it to her.. I asked her to show me in the bible where it said that.. she said she was going to go get her own bible.. she slammed the door.. i waiting a little bit but she never came back :)!! But we also found an amazing family.. Carlos and Lilianna with two kids and one on the way and she has a cousin that is a member!! We are going to teach them all
this week and i'm super super excited!!
On Wednesday we knocked some more doors and got a lady that asked us if we were from the mormon tabernacle choir so we told her yes and sang for her and she told us we were angels... she wasn't all there but it was fun!! We also went and visited an old referral named Romeo.. he was who we were going to teach when sister Richardson totaled the Malibu and we never went back. We taught him outside his apartment complex and it was an amazing lesson and he really wants to come to church.
Well on Wednesday Sister Smith called us and asked us if we would sing a song for our Zone Conference on Saturday and I agreed because my new companion really wanted to and i thought it would be a fun experience for her... but honestly i hate singing in front of people.. i would rather give a thirty minute talk than sing three minutes any day.. but I thought why not... so on Thursday we went to go print out the sheet music and all the libraries were closed so by the time we got it we had to be singing it in less than 48 hours.. Then the person that was going to play the piano we were told bailed... then i found out that the reason we were singing the song is because the wife or the seventy that was going to be speaking wanted it sung!! I had not agreed while knowing i was singing in a meeting where a seventy was speaking, Elder Flukiger... then i get to the church on Saturday to sing and the person i had finally found to play it was no where to be found so we grabbed a random sister to play.. practiced twice... oh and i get to our "zone conference" and find out it is really a multi zone conference including every missionary except for about 40 out east.. too far away.. so there were about 125 missionaries.. I definitely didn't bargin for that!! But of course i did it and it turned out pretty good. Sister Smith and Flukiger kept thanking us afterwards... but the best was when Elder Metcalf came up to me.. ha ha Cindy Metcalf has been trying to get me to sing in our home ward since i was 12 I think with you mom and i always told her NO!!... ha ha.. Mark just walked up to me and said,"You are going to be in SOOOOOOOOO much trouble when i tell my mom!!" I was laughing so hard.. Sister Smith heard the comment so he told her how i would never sing before my mission and she said, "Sometimes it takes a mission to step-up and do the unthinkable.." I don't think any statement could explain my mission more!!
Well we got out of Zone Conference late and barely got back to Carrollton in time to get things ready for our baptism.. the Zone Leaders Elder Andrus and Elder Roberts saved me by hurrying back to filled up the font while i waited for a ride that never showed up so
finally Hermana Richardson and Hermana Beetso (who are now companions) drove us back to Carrollton. Angie Vasquez's baptism was amazing.. her husband got to baptize her and confirm her.. Hermana Gomez and I had taught her three year old to sing "Soy un Hijo de Dios" and sang it with her at the baptism... Right after she got baptized she just sat in the water and started crying.. then after the baptism her husband came up to me and just kept thanking me with tears in his eyes. It's moments like that that make this whole mission worth it.. they are so excited to get sealed in a year!
Sunday five people came to church.. we went to go try to contact that lady Deana Alfonzo that went to Mexico for a couple months to see her dad again and ended up getting in her apartment and teaching her roommate who we found out is a very less-active member.. and her sister is actually the one that called us to refer us to Deana and told us her sister would NEVER listen to us.. but guess what she did.. we taught her and her father-in-law the first lesson and have another lesson with them tonight.. At night after eating yummy tacos with the Aguilars we went and sang to Sister Redo who is recoping from surgery to remove her cancer.. The spirit was so strong in that room..maybe the strongest i have felt in a long time.
Well i'm excited for this week to find our three families that need to get baptized for Christmas.. this work is amazing!! I miss y'all so much but we get to party for eternity!! Can't wait!!
Hermana Barber