Amazing Week - August 27, 2016

Muy Buenas Tardes, Wow this week was so amazing on just how the Lord prepared so many people for us to teach, it was another week where we didnt have a lot of time in our area because we were traveling but the time that we did we were able to see the Lords prepared children that we could serve. It was an amazing experience to be able to go and ask them why they wanted to hear us and they would just say that they wanted to be clean from their sins and start all over. On Sunday we went to church with our investegator Eloy that is going to be baptized in a week. He has gone through the fire but has recieved an amazing testimony of this work through his own repentance process. We have felt such a sense of joy to see his humble desire to be baptized and to see him inviting the ward to his baptism. He is 70 years old and this morning he went to the stake center to clean it and get it ready for the stake conference. I am so humbled to be able to know these types of people. While we were in church a family came that we had never seen before, they told us to come by their house that night so we went by and talked to them. The Mom is a member of the church but the Dad isnt, and has been listening for a long time, the only thing is that he couldnt get his divorce papers on his last marriage to go through so that he could marry the Mom, anyways we stopped by and he said, "Elders the papers are finally going to go through this week, we are going to do all that we can to get married as soon as we can because we need to progress in this church" We were speechless when he told us that because that is so rare here in Oaxaca for this to happen. Afterwards we went out and found a guy named Gil, who is 35 years old and got into some pretty bad stuff with drugs. He had gotten off of them about 2 years ago because his mom got sick and he had to help her. He told us he wanted to start all over and that he was willing to do anything to experience that. We read John 3:5 with him and asked him to be baptized. He said yes that is what he needed to do. On Tuesday we had another chance to work in our area. We couldnt find anyone to teach and we felt like we needed to go to Gils house. We went over there and this time he had his cousin there too and his cousin accepted to be baptized and said that they are both going to come to church with us tomorrow! We experienced so many small and simple miracles this week in the ways that we werent expecting. On Wednesday we had the chance to go back to Huatulco to do splits with the Zone Leaders there. When we got there Elder Allman told me that my convert Omar was planning on coming with us for the whole afternoon to teach with us because he wanted to show me he wanted to prepare for a mission as well. In the morning we got to stop by and talk to Andres and it was so amazing to see everything that he remembers and that he is staying active in the church. In the afternoon it was such a tender mercy to see the testimony of Omar and see the way that he bore it. The time that I had in Huatulco wasnt the easiest. It was a time that we had to plant many seeds, and this chance that we had to go back this week helped us to see the many seeds that we had planted there and to see the Less actives that had gone back to church, the investigators that are getting baptized, and the strength that the branch there has now. It was an opportunity to see the hand of the Lord working next to us, for us, and with us in all things that we put our effort into. I know that he is with us in this work, it would be impossible to see these fruits and find these people without him and his infinate love for his children. I have seen it and I have felt it for myself. I know that he lives. Elder Peterson

Andres and Omars mom

Omar with us for the Day

The Famous Santo Domingo church, some say that it is the most beautiful Cathedral on the American Continent. The inside is nearly pure 24 karat gold leaf, it was quite a sight to see but I like our temples better.