Baptism

well as you may have guessed from the title, i got baptized again. I know that technaquilaly we should only do it once, but i had some free time and figured id give it another go around. ha just kidding. but we did have another baptism this week. last saturday was the baptismal service of Ruby xiloj and her little brother Fernando. We have been teaching them for some time now. Their dad is an inactive member, and their mom isnt a member. but they were always really smart and really eager to learn.

Saturday morning was pretty crazy, the baptism was supposed to be at nine and at 8-45 my companion hadnt come back from divisions in another area. when he showed up we took off running, only to find out that i was supposed to fill up the baptismal font (which i didnt do) and we didnt have cloths for Fernando and the church wasnt unlocked, and chairs werent set up, and it was already like 8 50. well to make a long story short, we ran around for the next hour setting things up and started the service at 10 30. but the happy ending is that it was a beautiful baptism. I got to baptize Hna Ruby and a member baptized fernando. the spirit was really strong, and when it was all over, everyone was really happy. On sunday they were both confirmed in sacrament meeting, and given the Holy Ghost. so it was a little crazy, but you know what they say, All's well that ends well.

Well to answer your questions about my companion, we are getting along very well. Something ive learned is that everyone has good and bad of them. The trick to being happy is dont think about the bad parts. Elder Lira is easy to get along with though. He has a pretty laid back attitude like me, so when dont really ever have any disputes. We made a deal that at the end of the day I would help him learn english, and he is going to help me learn how to dance. Apparently he was in like one of the top dance groups in nicaragua, so i figured i might as well take advantage of the opportunity to learn. Ha i have to admit, its freakin weird for me to be dancing at night in our appartment, but you know what they say, When in rome...

I liked what you said in your email about goals and doing them. Another thing ive realized is that the difference between those who are average, and those who are extraordinary is that the people who are great are always seeking change and improvement, while others are satisfied with where they are. Every where you look you will see that people are always on different levels. In sports, a career, or any type of skill, even in the mission with investigators, members, and missionaries, its the same. some people excel while others stay the same. And the difference is the desire to be better tomorrow than we are today. I think one of the coolest things about being alive is that every day we are free to choose if we will be one of the people who excel or not. I think that that is in a nutshell the purpose of life. but you know what they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat (but only one way to skin a frog...)

well in other news we have some other investigators that are positive for baptism. 2 of them have already told us they want to, but they just need some more time. Its really cool to see how the spirit works with people to help them learn, as they start to live the gospel. last week we had a class on how important it is that people pray. so we made the goal that if we taught someone we wouldnt leave the house until they said a prayer. its crazy to me that sometimes its so hard to get people to pray, satan really works hard to prevent people from doing it. but we have been working hard as well. I cant say that all of our methods were honorable, or even legal. but we have been true to our goal, and have had some really beautiful experiences when people finally kneel down and offer a sincere prayer. Its like i always say, Prayer is a metaphoracle hand grenade hurled into the rickety foundations of the kingdom of satan.

well unfortunately im low on time again. the good news is that the weeks go by like a dream, so ill probly wake up tomorrow and it will be p day again. you know what they say, Good bye just french for hello. I love you all. I love to hear that everyones doing well. keep me updated on the good news. and the bad news as well. Talk to you next week. Love

Elder Jacobson

P.S. Everyone go and get a breakfast burrito from betos, my treat.