Can you believe it's almost August already? I can't believe how quickly time passes and yet how much happens in that time.
Anyway, we had two baptisms yesterday! Sorry, I don't have pictures today because I forgot my camera. But N's two kids, M and L were baptized, and I just know she's going to follow soon! The sad news is that all the other baptisms in our district fell through. We had a possibility of 7 baptisms that day and only had 2. However, those other five should be baptized within the next few weeks.
I love Madera! There is way more Spanish spoken than English here. The English elders refuse to tract because there are so many Hispanic homes. In my other areas, you could tell if a neighborhood was mostly Hispanic or mostly white based on the quality of the neighborhood (the Hispanic people were generally in the poorer areas). But here, it doesn't seem to matter what the neighborhood is like, you're bound to find lots of people from Mexico. It's so much fun! And I love having six missionaries in the same ward. We see each other every day. When you're in an area where it's just you and your companion for miles, it can get kind of boring.
The truck that the English elders and us four Spanish elders share got hit by a drunk driver a couple nights ago while it was parked in front of their apartment. It's out of commission for awhile, which means we don't have a car for preparation day today. But we should be able to work something out with the sisters and use their car to go shopping. I feel bad for the English elders though, because they have a huge area and now they have no car to cover it with.
Well, things are going great! I'd just like to close with a scripture I read this morning, Doctrine and Covenants 101:35-37 says basically that if we are faithful through all kinds of persecution and endure all things, even death, we will be partakers of eternal glory. "Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul and the life of the soul." Now, that doesn't mean don't worry about your health, do whatever you want with your body. But we should be far less concerned about our mortal lives than we are about our eternal lives. Thinking of stepping into the arms of my Savior, clothed in Celestial glory always puts things into perspective for me. If we endure faithfully through all kinds of trails, one day we will be able to say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness" (2 Timothy 4:7-8). "For in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full" (D&C 101:36
"And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy" (D&C 130:2).
Just imagine enjoying Celestial glory with your closest family and friends! Won't that be worth every pain, every disappointment, every struggle, every heartache? Hold fast to your faith, whatever the future brings!
I love you all and hope your are having a wonderful time! And remember, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" ( 1Cor 2:9).
Elder Lofthouse
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