Elder Tanner Nelson
Okay, first
off, I have to say, I'd rather eat mundungo than cow intestines...just
sayin.... (note from mom….One is cow stomach, and the
other cow intestines. I think it’s funny
that he has a preference between
those 2 options. Ew.) J
And....................OBDELI
GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so so sooooooo amazing. We
had stake conference this weekend, and so we went to church early to start
filling the font. So then conference ended, and guess what? No obdeli. His dad
was there and everyone from the branch that was staying was there, but no
Obdeli. We had told everyone it was going to start at 12:30, right after stake
conference, just because everyone runs on hispanic time and comes late to
everything....So we were actually planning to start at 1. Pres. and Sis. Jeppson were there, our zone
leaders, district leaders, and the AP's were there, but the guy who was going
to be baptized wasn't even there!!!!! He finally rolled in at about 1:15, and
we ran him into the dressing room and finally started at about 1:30. I
translated for Sis. Jeppson, and we sang (side note, when we were singing, sis
Jeppson said I have a beautiful voice ;)) Then came time for the baptism. We
escorted him to the door. We watched from the side door. Obdeli was so nervous
- he was shaking. But he followed his
dad down into the water, and they got right into position. His dad closed his
eyes, and said the prayer from memory. "Basilio Obdeli Gomez Luis,
habiendo sido comisionado por Jesucristo, yo te bautizo en el
nombre........." and then he went down into the water. As soon as he came
up, he wiped the water out of his eyes, and then him and his dad embraced and
just bawled together for about 3 minutes!! It was so amazing - the spirit was
so strong!! You could definitely feel the love they have for each other and for
their desires to do what's right.
And guess
what? That's the first baptism my area has had in almost 3 YEARS!!!!
Like I
said, this weekend was our stake conference. The Focus was on, "Because I
have been given much I too must give." It was really really good!! I felt again that the principle of fasting
was true. That as we fast and pay our fast offerings, we are helping to build God's
kingdom. I can especially see it in action because we have this family in our
branch, the Padillas, who literally have nothing. We've opened their fridge a
few times, and there isn't even enough food to feed Elder diaz and I for two
meals. And they have the two parents and three kids, ages 12, 11, and 9. The
kids are so tiny. It's horrrible to see!! But every time we go over there, they
always offer to give us something. It's so humbling to see, that even when they
have nothing, they are so willing to give. So just
remember, we have been given much, so it is our responsibility to give
according to what we can.
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