El Río de Nacimiento

January 17, 2022

Hola a todos!!!! 

Guau this week was a really great one!! A few memorable things at the beginning that weren't necessarily the best, but Sunday had to have been one of the best days of my whole mission!!! The Baptism and Confirmations of Ivan and Analía!!! It was one of those days you dream of and I can't ever adequately express the feelings or my gratitude for what I was able to be a part of. 

El Bautismo!! 

Wow what an experience!! We don't have a church here in Aimogasta, we just meet in a small room, so we also don't have a baptismal font. Which means we have the baptisms in the river!! To make it even better the river is called the El Río de Nacimiento, or The River of Birth which I thought was a perfect detail. It was one of the most peaceful and special events. Ivan and Analía have to be the biggest miracles of my mission, just of how the Lord placed us in their path in this time of their lives and to see the change in them. It was a small but powerful service and Analia said she felt like she was in a cloud haha. And Ivan just said it was indescribable. I love them so much and now just am going to pray every day they can continue to have the change and Spirit they've felt. 

Otros Amigos !! 

-Roni y Daiana!! They are amazing as well. The biggest thing with them was that there was a pretty interesting situation between Roni and another hermana in the group here. They have some history I guess you could say so they were worried about going to church. It was such a happy surprise to see Roni and Daiana walk into to church!!  And then even more miraculously, instead of just leaving after the sacrament like we gad suggested if they didn't feel comfortable, they stayed the whole time, despite, that one hermana giving a talk and en teaching the whole second hourly!! We had a super powerful lesson with them after church as well and they said despite all the things they had felt the Spirit super strong. It was a huge step for them and now they are working on getting married this week!!! They have such pure desires and want to be an eternal family.

-Gladys. She is still a rockstar but we had a littleeee bit of a curveball with her as she told us about an addiction with the WoW we weren't expecting. But she was a little unsure at first but he son Fernando helped us so much to explain and help her understand the importance of it all. The great things are she still wants to be baptized, is still reading the Book of Mormon, and is coming to church!! But please keep her in your prayers so she can have the added strength she needs to overcome her addiction!! 

-Brenda. We had some awesome lessons with her as well and she came to church!! It's been the one thing between her and baptism and so it was so great to have her make it as well. She should be all good to go to be baptized on the 30th of January. We're praying she can be an example to her other family members who are super nice members but struggle getting to church. 

Otras Cositas 

A couple other things that were suuuper fun this week was we went down and visited this Hermana at the bottom of town. She is super nice and has some kids who haven't been baptized so it really is the perfect situation. We had a great time and as we were leaving my bike tire was a little flat and we had a straight up hill trip to our next appointments so I asked to use their pump. Elder Monday, being just the kindest soul he is, went to do it for me and ended up letting all the air out of the whole tire and broke the pump haha. We had to get going so we tried to fill it up as much as we could and I rode on it for a second anyways to the nearest bike shop but we were pretty far from anything. It ended shredding my tire and made it possible to ride at all. Long story short, I ended up carrying my bike for probably about a mile until miraculously a member came and picked us up. It eventually all worked out, we had a pretty good laugh, and definitely made a memory. 

Pensamiento Espiritual

This spiritual thought might be a little longer, I apologize in advance haha. With the baptism in the river we had to get there early and we dug out a section in the river bed to make sure it was deep enough. As I was digging I thought to myself I feel like I'm diving a grave. And that's when it kind of hit me that that's exactly what I was doing. The powerful symbolism of Bautismo is just that, dying as you completly submerge in the water and being reborn through our Savior Jesus Christ as you come out. It truly is the beginning of a new life as we are spiritually starting new. It just hit me so hard and I know that is exactly what Ivan and Analía did by being baptized. They have shared with us the stark changes they've had from having peace, finding direction, being able to sleep at night, and dropping old habits completely since we met about a month ago. They have truly become new creatures through the infinite and eternal Atoning power of Jesus Christ. I was pondering on this idea of being reborn in Christ later in the day yesterday again as we were preparing the Sacrament. I read some verses in Alma 5 that hit me so hard as well. The sacrament truly is the weekly opportunity to do exactly what Ivan and Analia did, to leave our former selves and be reborn through our Savior and renewing our covenants. What a miracle!! And it's every week!! It's amazing and it has left me with the feeling of the light and "Redeeming Love" that Alma mentions. I pray you all can have a similar experience next Sunday. 

Alma 5:7-35

I love you all so much!! I hope you all have a great week!! Thank you all for your support and love

Con todo el amor, 

Elder Jackson