First Baptism, First Commitment, First Change and More Pictures

Crazy as it may sound, Haden has been in Mexico for 6 weeks already. 

Read below to see how the end of his first change wrapped up and what other cool experiences he had this week.  Also read about some Mexico City fun facts.....as only Haden could say them.

Also,  I have heard that people are having trouble leaving comments on the blog.  If you have trouble, just email Haden at the email address posted on the Contact Info page.  He will get it even if he doesn't have time to respond.

There are new pics posted on the Pictures page as well....check them out!

His letter is below.

My first change is over.

These past six weeks have gone by really fast.  We did a lot of work, fell off the wagon a little bit, and had some disappointing times, but it’s all worth it because yesterday, I was able to baptize my first person.  Her name is Maria Guadalupe Amelia Pintor Ramirez.  She is the girl who we rent our apartment from.  She is an awesome person and her whole family was there and they definitely felt the Spirit also.  She also calls me Hoots, which I think is funny and those that get it will think it’s funny too.

I have always seen baptism from the other side, outside the baptismal font.  All the little kids all excited, kneeling down in front of the glass, but I have never seen their faces.  I have always seen the tank full of water, but never had the chance to be in it.  Being in there and baptizing Maria helped me realize that I have a bigger responsibility here than I thought.  When I first got in the font I saw all the faces of the little kids and their smiles.  I saw the room full of people and all of them smiling.  That is a feeling that I can never explain and I really hope I get to feel that way every time I am able to do a baptism.  It was a great experience that I am very grateful for having.

As always I have some fun things to tell you guys about.  First of all, haircuts here are really bad.  I didn’t know the numbers (on the guards) here are different, but they are. S o i asked for a five and it turned out like a three.  Let’s just say I wasn’t too thrilled...but whatever.  Pizza is gross here and people eat it with ketchup.  That threw me off a little bit.  I don’t think there is a toilet in Mexico City that works perfectly.  Every toilet has at least some sort of problem.  To flush my toilet I have to take the top off and pull the string.  It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but at 2 or 3 in the morning, it really stinks. The pictures in the newspaper here are different than at home.  They are very graphic and don’t hold back. Pictures of dead people right on the front page, and every day it is a new gruesome picture. Oh yea, and finally, Mexico has no jam, so it’s impossible to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Thank you to the YM and YW of the Chaparral Ward for my package.   I loved the Mike and Ikes and all or your letters.

I have a few more stories to tell you.  About two maybe three weeks ago we contacted a family.  About two weeks went by and we hadn’t visited them or talked to them at all.   But the other day we were walking by their house and there was a card in their window.  My companion noticed that the card had our names and number on it, so we decided to stop.  We knocked on the door and the lady who answered wasn’t very inviting.  However, once we told her we were the missionaries, the tone in her voice changed.  She invited us in and in the house there were only two pieces of furniture, a bed and a wheelchair.  Nothing else.  Once we started talking to her you could see her face light up.  There was a literal glow in her face, I can’t describe it.  It was something special.  We didn’t even have to invite her to church; she TOLD US that she wanted to come.  Now, we hear that a lot, so we were excited, but skeptical.  But the best part what, she actually showed up.  It was a special feeling.  It helped me to realize that we can’t give up on people, sometimes they just need some time.  

We also teach a lady named Sofia. She was the first person that I personally committed to baptism.  It was amazing.  After we left I couldn’t stop smiling for like an hour.  Partly because I understood her concerns in Spanish, and partly because she was my first commitment.  She has a date set for September 4^th and I can’t wait.

We are baptizing a family next week and there is a little girl in the family that I love.  Every time I go over, she runs up to her room and brings down all of her dolls.  It’s amazing cause every time it is dolls I have never seen before.  She piles them all around me on the couch and explains to me the names of the dolls and which dolls are in love and everything...haha it’s pretty funny.  She is four and her name is Lorena.  She is pretty crazy, but fun.

That is pretty much my week.  We did a lot of good things this week and had some success.  Hopefully we will start having more because we have a lot of people close, but we will see where that goes.  The baptism yesterday was the first baptism in that ward in the past 8 months.  And I was privileged to be able to do it.  I love it here, it’s hard, I am sick of waking up at 6:30/A every morning, but I do love going to sleep early...haha.  Hopefully I will have another good week.  Love you all and praying for you all.

Much Love,

Haden