First off, BAPTISM!!!! Yes, the third baptism I
have been involved in during my mission here in Perú, but more exciting, my
first baptism where I baptized the person! So, the young guy who I got to
baptize was a boy named, "Manuel." I haven’t written much about him
due to time restraints in the past, but he is the one who we had the lesson
with the many kids from off the street with (and in fact this week we had the
biggest lesson yet as 8 niños joined in on one of our lessons). He is the
youngest member of a family who are all members of the Church, but are not
attending services currently. However, even though he is the youngest he has
the biggest testimony. From Day 1, he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon
and the divinity of it, and he shook both my companion and me to our cores. He
is a lot like Nephi (the first writer in the Book of Mormon) in that even
though he is the youngest in the family, he has a testimony big enough to fill
the whole house! He is a fantastic young man, and after his baptismal
interview, he said that he wanted Elder Rich to baptize him. So, I had the
wonderful privelege of baptizing Hermano Manuel and helping him begin a life as
a disciple of Jesus Christ. What an amazing experience! I wish I could share
the experience with everyone back home, but words really can´t describe it as
well as I would like. Anyways, it was a wonderful experience, and Manuel is now
officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On a different note, here in Perú Halloween is not as big as it is in the States...or even really that similar. The more important celebration is el día de los muertos on the first and second of November, so the 31st of October is just another night in essence. Thus, the Church here in Tumbes decided to hold a Missionary Night in the stake center of Tumbes for people to learn more about the church. So, naturally we went to help teach people, and as we walked in, the zone leaders pulled me into the bathroom, threw some colorful scarves and robes around me, and told me I would be acting in the show there. So, long story short, I played the part of an angry citizen during the preaching of Korihor (full story: Alma chapter 30 in the Book of Mormon), and I got to exclaim with all of my acting power and wisdom the truly moving line: "Usted esta enseñado falsas doctrinas!" (“You are teaching false doctrines!”) You had to have seen it...people were moved to tears. Maybe they were tears of laughter, I can’t tell, but either way it was quite fun. If I get pictures of this, I will send them home, but I am sure the picture in your mind is pretty close to what it was.
Anyways, sorry for a not super long letter this week. Much to do and little time to do it! Thanks to everyone and I hope everyone is enjoying their new month of November! Love to all and know that my prayers are with everyone back home.
Sincerely,
Elder Dax Rich
On a different note, here in Perú Halloween is not as big as it is in the States...or even really that similar. The more important celebration is el día de los muertos on the first and second of November, so the 31st of October is just another night in essence. Thus, the Church here in Tumbes decided to hold a Missionary Night in the stake center of Tumbes for people to learn more about the church. So, naturally we went to help teach people, and as we walked in, the zone leaders pulled me into the bathroom, threw some colorful scarves and robes around me, and told me I would be acting in the show there. So, long story short, I played the part of an angry citizen during the preaching of Korihor (full story: Alma chapter 30 in the Book of Mormon), and I got to exclaim with all of my acting power and wisdom the truly moving line: "Usted esta enseñado falsas doctrinas!" (“You are teaching false doctrines!”) You had to have seen it...people were moved to tears. Maybe they were tears of laughter, I can’t tell, but either way it was quite fun. If I get pictures of this, I will send them home, but I am sure the picture in your mind is pretty close to what it was.
Anyways, sorry for a not super long letter this week. Much to do and little time to do it! Thanks to everyone and I hope everyone is enjoying their new month of November! Love to all and know that my prayers are with everyone back home.
Sincerely,
Elder Dax Rich
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