I hope everyone is doing so great!
This week was awesome, so stressful. But awesome. Elder Hilton and i are doing great! We teach very well together, and he lets me take the lead in every single lesson...which is a huge change from my training haha. So finally i feel like i will start learning Spanish! Elder Hilton knows how i feel because he has been there before. So he is easy to talk to about my situation and frustrations! And we talk completely in Spanish which is really cool. He is a great Elder! I am very happy. finally.
This week, bad news first. My buddy Armando, who was supposed to be baptized but then disappeared...Was involved in a hit and run. He was hit by a car and then beaten and then robbed. He is currently in the hospital with a shattered hip, and many cuts, and a large gash on his head. He was walking home from work at night. They took everything from him. He was found at 3 AM unconscious on the side of the road. Man this just broke my heart. He will get surgery tomorrow. Next bad news, the young man of 15 years, I talked to his mom and just begged for me to help him. Alejandro is currently going through some troubling times in his teenage years...the bad thing is, i know how to help him. But i cant, because i am not catholic. The first time i met this kid out on the street, i had this feeling that i just had to help him. it is so frustrating. I talked my heart out with his mom, fighting tears and all, but she just wouldn't let us help. Alejandro knows our messages are true and will bless his life....But i guess right now just isn't time.
Alright, time for the miracle of the week. There are a few. So with this week being fast Sunday, as a zone we fasted for success in baptisms to start baptising every single week and baptize in the month of may. I prayed and prayed that we would find people ready to receive the gospel. First off, fasting here in Mexicali is difficult. You dry out really fast, an elder asked the president how long we should fast out here in Mexicali for our safety, he said, fast according to your faith. So i did that. After a full fast, i ended it with a prayer. For a miracle of course. We didn't have many safe baptismal dates. But, i have faith in our Heavenly Father. After lunch with the members, i was talking with a young man of 10 years about his life and his vacations. Something prompted me to invite him to be baptized (note:we have taught him for months, and other elders before us, and nothing. he has 20 or more times at church but isn't interested.) So instead of preaching to him, i told him about how i have been praying for him every day, and that i feel the 16th of May is the day he will be ready to be baptized....He just stared at me straight in the eyes...and said "yes, yes lets do it" ha. not what i was expecting! then his grandpa said "and i will do the ordinance" and Damian, the 10 year old, just got a huge smile on his face! yay! Finally!
Next, the grandma of Damian told us she has a friend who wants to know more about us. We walked in to her ever so humble home and introduced ourselves, within 5 minutes of talking to here...i had a very strong prompting and a voice that said "fecha, ponga una fecha." meaning date, put a date for baptism. This is the first time the spirit has prompted me in Spanish. Finally! i have prayed for that, over and over and over. for a prompting in spanish. I immediately turned to Elder Hilton and said, "I'm putting a date ok? ok" haha his face was priceless, complete surprise. I invited the woman to be baptized...and she accepted "yes, i will follow Jesus Christ", with a huge smile on her face :) We have an appointment with her tonight! What a great experience. oh and her name is Palmira.
I'm not done....another investigator who we have been trying to teach for about 3 months too came to church the other day again and I immediately went over and grabbed him, but an appointment for that night. Finally, we got him. That's not all. We taught him the restoration?(restauración). The spirit was so strong. Once again, i felt that i needed to place a date. i was going to say 16th, but i was prompted otherwise. the 23rd, my great friend Fracisco Amador will be baptized! When i invited him to be baptized, he just smiled and smiled. and said "of course, i know these things are true." success. I was about ready to just go run through the streets i was so happy haha. still am :)
So yeah, that is basically my week. After a rough week of a lot of walking, lots of appointments falling, we finally had success. in a huge way. Hopefully all of this makes sense. sorry for my spelling.
The bishop is doing well, his hand isn't quite back to full function tho...and i visited the family of the fight. They aren't doing so great, but we are working with them. and dad, good news! they caught one of the people!
Anyways, life is good here in Mexico, we are working very hard!
The church is true! Christ lives.
-Elder Westbroek
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