2014-06-30 I love baptisms.

Hey Everyone,

Happy Birthday Harmon!  Hope you had a great day.

Rodrigo

This was a good week.  Rodrigo got baptized.  The other 3 didn't because they all got really sick.  Their baptism will probably be tomorrow or maybe Thursday.  It was kind of disappointing but it will make this week more enjoyable.

Last p-day we had soccer tournament with all the missionaries in Potosì.  My team was alright but we didn't win.  I am getting a lot better at soccer.

It is freaking cold today.  It's also the second day in a row that it's been so cold that the pipes are frozen and we have no water in the house.

Yesterday there was a normal 8-year-old baptism for Luis.  I sent a photo of me with his brother Sirilo and grandma.  They asked us to be there to be the witnesses.  They heated the water up so much that it burned my hand when I touched it. They didn't realize it though until it was time for him to get in the water.  That caused about a half hour delay while we brought cold water in buckets from the church's well to pour in the font.  The church didn't have any running water to fill the font more normally.  We eventually got it cool enough for him to go in and he got baptized.  Afterward, one of the bishop's counselors was speaking and decided to use it as an example of overcoming adversity but the 8 year old kid kept interrupting to ask why they'd made the water so hot it burned him.

me with Sirilio and his grandmother

Rodrigo's baptism was the same night as the ward talent show.  The talent show was at 6 and his baptism at 8. Well, the talent show didn't start until 8:15 and the baptism started at 8:30.  They asked me to sing Hallelujah from Shrek in Spanish.  I was pretty impressed that they gave me a copy of the music on a usb drive and the lyrics in Spanish and then had everything ready to go for it the night of the talent show. Normally, they do not do a very good job preparing ahead of time here.  I'm dressed in all white because as soon as I finished singing, we started the baptism.

teaching Jhamil

The baptism went very well.  All of Rodrigo's family came.  His mom and sisters are really nice people too. He bore his testimony in the baptism and mentioned that he's going to serve a mission.  I love baptisms. Rodrigo is also one of the most prepared people I've baptized in my mission and has a strong testimony.  At church the next day he was already there when we arrived and he was reading in the index of the Book of Mormon about the Priesthood.  After church he went on his own and talked to the bishop about when he can receive the priesthood and the bishop's going to interview him on Sunday.  He's also planning on going with our ward to the temple next week.  I'm very happy for him.

I haven't met the new mission president yet.  I'd guess that I will during this month.  We´ll probably have a conference with him.

I hit 15 months this past week.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, don't forget to pray every day.

Love,

Elder Howlett

P.S. 1 Timothy 4:12