July 11, 2016

Well I got transferred. I have returned to Westland 5th which was my
second area in the mission and which is now my 4th. I am with Elder
Mason and his picture is at the bottom. He is the hardest working
missionary I've ever met!!!!!! He used to be an assistant to the
president and he's been in every leadership position possible in the
mission. I am now his companion and he is a district leader. He is the
best missionary I have ever met. I have already learned so much from
him! My goal is to be able to learn as much as I can by the end of the
transfer because I don't think I'll be given another opportunity like
this again.

But this last week was one of the most amazing week ever!!!! It
started out Tuesday when this area was still a biking area and I was
dying trying to keep up with Elder Mason!!!!!!! He's so fast and I've
never been in a biking area before in my mission so it was definitely
something new. I decided I liked biking because it gives us the
opportunity to talk to more people. Well the next day we received a
visit from the zone leaders and told us there were some mistakes with
the car assignment and we got the car! So I have still yet to be in a
biking area in my mission but hopefully I'll get the chance at least
once!

Anyways we had a baptism this last Tuesday in my last area that I was
able to go back to see. It was the baptism of Jorge and María which
has been coming for a long time now!!!!! It was the best baptism I've
ever had!!!!! I arrived there a little late because of a lesson we had
just before so I was afraid I would miss it but when I got there it
looked like everyone was just entering the building. I was 20 minutes
late so I thought for sure they would have started. Elder Lyons was
holding the door open for everyone and when I got there the first
thing he says is "Hermano Razo sprayed maze in the building!" I was
freaking out!!!! I thought someone had broken in or a fight broke out
and Hermano Razo used his Maze to end it. I ran inside but there
wasn't any sign of anything like a fight had happened. Only a terrible
smell that burned you're throat and your eyes. Elder Stout was inside
and he told me what had happened. Apparently Hermano Razo had bought
some maze online and brought it to the baptism early to show the
Elders. He thought it was the coolest thing ever and he wanted to show
them how it worked. So he was with the a Elders on the North side of
the building. He opened the door and sprayed some maze outside the
door. Well apparently a strong wind from the north took the maze and
blew it into the hallway where everyone was standing and everyone
started coughing and running outside of the building!!!!! I was
laughing so hard when I heard this haha!!!!! I saw Jorhge and his mom,
María, next and they were both dressed in white and ready to go. There
were about 50 people there to give their support to Jorge and María
and we could fit everyone in a chair in the room the baptism font is.
So we had all the talks and everything in the chapel. Also Alfredo was
there to see the baptism!!!! I sat next to him the entire time! He's
so cool and so prepared! Many of the talks were by Jorge's friends so
they were in English so I was translating for Alfredo. He absolutely
loved the baptism! He's on date for the 23rd and I'm really excited to
be able to go back and see him be baptized! The baptism was perfect.
They were both baptized without a problem. Also at the end of the
meeting Hermano Razo went up to the podium and apologized to everyone
for spaying maze. It was hilarious!!!! Apparently many people thought
it was the Elders that did it but it was good that Hermano Razo
cleared it up. I was taking to Hermano Razo afterwards and he felt
really bad about it. He told me that he's just too childish sometimes.
I shared with him the scripture Matthew 18:4 and told him that he
would inherit the kingdom of God. After everything was over I was
committed to put Jorge's dad on date to be baptized. I knew that Elder
Jimenez and his new companion had talked to him a little about baptism
but I knew that he didn't have a date. So I went up to Elder Lyons and
asked him when the Soonest someone could be baptized if they had not
gone to church. He told me the 30th of July. So I went up to his dad
and just when I was about to talk to him María came up to me and
started telling me about everything that she felt and how much she
loved everything. It was so nice to see her so excited. I asked
Jorge's dad how he like it and he told me that it was nice and nothing
too exciting but when he finished I told him "I want to be able to see
your baptism. I know that it's going to be just as special as your
wife's baptism was for her. We will be having a baptismal service on
the 30th of July. Will you be prepare to be baptized on that day?" He
said yes. I told him that I'm going to be there at his baptism. The
entire time I was doing this, María knew what I was doing and when I
invited her husband her mouth was hanging open the entire time and
when he said yes she almost fainted!!!!!

It was a miracle for me and she said thank you to me so many times
afterwards and Jorge's dad just had the largest smile on his face!
Immediately afterwards one of Jorge's friends came up to me. He was
standing next to us the entire time this was happening but he doesn't
speak Spanish so he had no idea what was happening. He asked me what
happened and I told him that Jorge's dad is on date to be baptized. He
freaked out..... Then Jorge came up to us and asked us why we were
freaking out and I told him. He nearly cried for joy. I committed him
to help his dad in every way he could. I told Elder Jimenez that he
had a new investigator on date and then he asked "what about Jorge's
brother?" I honestly forgot to ask Jorge's brother.... I was chastised
by Elder Jimenez for that then afterwards Elder Jimenez put the
brother on date. It was an amazing night!

Another miracle that happened was just yesterday night. We met a bunch
of young adults living in an apartment together and they all, said
that they're from Puerto Rico here on vacation together. We were there
to meet a guy named Miguel that we had OYMed earlier and ended up
teaching him and two other guys. They didn't have a firm knowledge on
who God was or what he could do for them but they each believed in a
God. We taught them how God loves us and he wants to bless us. We told
them that to access the ultimate blessing which is obtaining a
remission of your sins is accessed through baptism. They were all very
interested in this and they are all on date to be baptized on the 6th
of August. It taught me to never be afraid to mention baptism because
this is the unique thing that we can offer everyone else in the world!
This is the door and we are here to hell them through it. The members
are here to get them through the temple. I am so thankful for this
Ward because they are really focused on missionary work and helping
the new converts on the next steps through their eternal journeys.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Elder Kallin James Austin
Utah SLC South Mission