This week was highlighted by being able to go to the temple with Raquel to see her get her endowment. It was a beautiful experience and I am just really grateful that we had some great members to support her throughout the way. I was able to receive the endowment on behalf of her husband who has passed away, so whenever the temple opens up again in a few weeks, she will return and be sealed to her husband!
Miguel, one of our recent converts from August, was able to receive the Priesthood on Sunday as well! It has been a little bit of a struggle recently to teach him frequently, but every time we went over, we talked about the blessings of holding the priesthood. He prepared himself and I was able to ordain him a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. One of our other recent converts, Jose, was able to be a part of the ordination, which was a special moment as well.
We started teaching a couple named Veronica and Orlando about 2 weeks ago and this week, we invited them to be baptized for November 2nd, and they accepted that date. Veronica has a brother who is a member in Moreno Valley, so she has had some positive experiences with the church already. She really wants to get baptized, so it'll be our goal to get them to church every Sunday leading up to their baptism. They also have a few kids in their family, so hopefully we can start teaching the family as a whole soon.
Last Sunday, we found a younger adult named Jacob and we were able to meet with him a few more times this week. We invited him to be baptized on November 9th and he accepted. He has been watching all the new Book of Mormon videos, but we are trying to get him to read the actual book as well, so we'll see.
Our baptism that we have planned for this weekend is with Reynaldo. There is one more smaller, legal thing that we are figuring out still. Other than that, he passed his interview with President Hammon and we will be praying that everything goes well, so that he will be baptized on the 19th.
One of the greatest learning opportunities came this Friday when Elder Bowen of the Quorum of the 70 visited our mission. We learned a lot about the Abrahamic Covenant and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. He taught us about our divine identity and potential. He said that if we learn and understand our divine identity, then we will act accordingly. He pointed out all the blessings that are promised to us if we are obedient, so it got everyone really excited for the work. He gave the example of how everyone thought that the 4 minute mile couldn't be broken, until someone decided not to be limited. He mentioned how there are false limitations all around us and as a result, we set some higher expectations as a mission. Overall, the Spirit was really strong and it was one of my favorite zone conferences.
Elder Moon
Elder Royce and I started teaching Raquel nearly two years ago
Elder Critchfield trained by Elder Moon trained by Elder Royce
Final P-Day activity - zone trip to Idyllwild
This is what it is all about. I'll see ya'll soon!
