The Baker Family!!! BAPTISMS!!!

Hello everybody,

So this week was amazing, however, today I forgot my journal at the flat and so this will all be from  memory so I am very sorry if it's not going to be full of all the details like it normally is but guess
what!!! We baptized a family!!! It was the greatest experience of my life and I am just so full of joy for them and proud of the people that they have become over a very short amount of time. But yeah, the week, topped off by a family baptism, what could be better right?

Baptism leads to Eternal Life (Idea borrowed from Elder Lemieux)

Tuesday: September 8th, 2015
So today we had to travel all the way up to Oxford to pick up some elders and then take them down to Crawley and then back up to Oxford for exchanges. So funny story... We were parking to pick up the elders on the first run and literally... 15 minutes of terrible luck... We leave for 15 minutes... And come back and guess what... Parking ticket. Really!? There just had to be an officer going around checking right then... Come on... But it is totally okay because I guess people get parking tickets all the time over here so the office was just like, yeah alright cool. But that was a fun experience to say I got my first parking violation in England... Woo hoo!

Wednesday: September 9th, 2015

Elder Clark, Myself, and Elder Richins

So we picked up Elder Clark yesterday and he is going to be with us for the week to train us and to help us understand and fulfil our role as zone leaders. Today we started by taking Elder Richins to take his drivers test and he failed by 4 points but hey, Elder Clark and I had a lot of good lessons while he was in there taking his test so there was a good plus that came out of that. However, I was sick... So it was really hard for me to work it we got things done anyway. I wasn't going to let a little sinus headache get the best of me. The rest of the day was studying and a couple of appointments in the evening. The Smith's bought us fish and chips for dinner and my oh my... Was it delicious!

Thursday: September 10th, 2015
So today we had a lot of lessons that we had to get to and also a referral that we had to meet up with. But then after that, the rest of the night was the baptismal interviews for the Baker Family and that
was the greatest thing ever seeing their smiles after coming out of that interview. They were totally stoked and just ready for Saturday.

Friday: September 11th, 2015
Crazy to think it is another anniversary already... Where does the time go. It was really weird today because normally, in America, it's the first thing you think about when you wake up because it a day of remembrance, but out here, nobody really took mention of it and to be honest... I completely forgot until that night during planning... I had to take a minute and just pray For the families that were again,
effected by that and we elders talked about where we were the day that happened and just had a good history talk for a bit before bed. But then, we got ready for the BEST DAY EVER!

The Baker Family Baptism
(Elder Richins, Scott, Me, Charlie, and David)

Saturday: September 12th, 2015
Today, the anticipation for the baptism just made us so hyped and ready to do work. We went out contacting early in the morning in the town centre and just went right into the work. We got a couple of great lessons with people and we also met a member who was down visiting from Manchester and we got to teach her son a quick restoration message before they departed and he was really thinking about what we said and he committed to reading it with his mom when they returned home so score! But then of course... We were already having such a great exchange with Elder Clark and we were learning so much from him and just taking it all in and the best way to end our exchange... We baptized Scott, David, and Charlie! By far, the rates to experience of my life... I remember walking into those waters holding another role just under 2 years ago, but this time, it was different and it was really nice to remember for myself, how I felt that day and send the smiles and the fullness of joy that they had and that everyone else had that witnessed it was truly remarkable. Our mission president also was able to make it after he just returned from a mission president seminar in Austria. By far again, the greatest feeling ever of being able to bring back our brothers and sisters back into the fold. We couldn't stop smiling or screaming that night and were just full of gratitude to our God for the opportunity we had to teach them and become a part of their family. I can't wait for them to go to the temple now and experience that for the first time as well!

Sunday: September 13th, 2015
Confirmations! We got to perform our first confirmations today and it was truly amazing. The Spirit just filled the congregation and it was
again, amazing to see their smiles after getting up from that chair and just feeling so happy and loved by everyone. Truly... I will never forget this experience ever, it holds a very special place in my heart because of the things that we had to do and help them with in order to take that extra step and know that they were truly ready to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Baptism is that stepping stone for everything and with the help of the Spirit, we were able to bring back 3 of our Father's children back into the family of God.

There is no greater joy then being in that font and seeing those people walk down those steps... That is all I can say.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-Elder Rivera