December 2, 2009

Dearest Family EVER!!!


I am so glad to hear that the Thanksgiving day celebration was a huge hit, as it should be. Elder Carr and I had a wonderful celebration, by ourselves, in our room with a chicken that we bought, the DELIGHTFUL stuffing, and mashed potatoes that you sent me with gravy. IT was absolutely fantastic. We could not even finish it all. That stuffing was incredible. I love stuffing. It smells so good. We finally finished it off yesterday and I was so surprised at how quick it was to make. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you send, do, and pray for. We feel your prayers and are trying to work hard so that we can receive more blessings in this work.

Lately I am realizing how weak I am and how desperately I need the Lord. I am sooo imperfect, but luckily, as mom said, and as President Monson has explained before, all we have to do is do our best and leave unto the Lord the rest. I have faith in this principle and know that if I am trying hard to do what I know is right, the Lord can make me a mighty instrument in His mighty, all powerful, hands.

The baptism was incredible. Just about everything that we had had planned fell through, making it really hard to pull everything together, but in the end it all came out well and there are 5 new members in The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-Day Saints. Some of the problems that we had during the week were as follows.

-The stake did not approve us doing any more baptisms at the branch meeting house, because there are no baptismal clothes or hot water.
-With this comes the need of calling all the members and getting them to travel an extra 30 minutes to the Temple in Madrid, where the stake center is. (It is important to have member supporting the baptismal candidates so that they will have more help in staying active, as you all know very well).
-Our phone was out of minutes almost all of the week and it made it very difficult to contact others and tell them about the baptism. Luckily the amazing wife of the branch mission leader, who is also the relief society president, scored a touch down, by calling all of the ward and an investigator telling them of the switch and offering help with rides, refreshments, etc. She was an incredible help in the process.
-the ward mission leader forgot to do the program so we threw one together in about 30 minutes in a locutorio or internet cafe.

As I write these down, I realize that they were not that big of a deal, but they did cause a lot of stress and worry for us, but after all was said and done, we are glad for the challenge and have learned a lot about what to do in the future.

The baptism was wonderful and beautiful. The family was very happy and Gina, the wife and mother, had asked President and sister Watkins, our mission president and his wife to come. President Watkins visited our branch about a month ago and met Ronny and Gina and she invited him then. It was wonderful having President Watkins there and it all turned out really well. Two people that were to baptize the children either could not come or forget, so Elder Carr and I were able to help out a little bit more. I baptized the oldest daughter and Elder Carr the youngest. It was a sweet moment with the family and I am very grateful and honored to have been a part of this experience.

Before the baptism Ronny, the father, said that he did not want any pictures because he did not want it to become a social meeting. He had a point as he really understood what the baptism meant and it should not just be something fun, but I also wanted to ¨preserve the moment¨ he later consented and trusted us that it would not get out of hand.

He later bore his testimony along with his family and it was incredible. I know he will be great leader in his family and a huge strength to the church in Spain.

The church is true. I love the work and am trying harder every day to love like the Master and forget myself.

Thank you for all the prayers and love.

love Elder Driggs