Sunday April 23, 2023
We were with the Elders this week and we were driving down the road next to the beach and Elder Martinez said, "Wow, the beach! Look at the waves!" This was the first time he had ever seen the ocean and he was so excited! So we walked out to the beach and onto the pier for a few minutes. It is always great to be here with the missionaries. Elder Martinez is from Mexico and was pretty excited to be near the ocean. I don't know what part of Mexico he is from but apparently not a coastal city. He has told us the name of the city where he is from but I have never heard of that name so I don't know where exactly it is. The pier here as you can see goes out a ways into the ocean, which is really the caribbean sea here, but there are no handrails on either side of the pier, it is fun to go out there to see the water from there but also just a bit scary because of no handrails and not a very smooth walkway. It is still a fun place to visit and it is super close to where we are every day. We are lucky to be here in this area.
We were driving down this road and looked over to our right and there were these stairs. So we had to stop and take a picture and walk to the top of them. When we got to the top we could see that we were really close to the Hermanas apartment where they stay. It was cool to make a new discovery. We are still learning more about the area and finding new places.
Here is Hermana Chappell halfway up the stairs by the pretty foliage. It really is pretty here in so many ways except for the fact there is garbage everywhere. That is sad that they don't take care of things a bit better but oh well.
The Elders baptized this sweet sister this week, she is so sweet and kind. I think she will be a great addition to the Telemar branch. It is interesting to get to know people. Some of the personalities here are so loud and fast and brash, while others are the opposite. I suppose it is like that everywhere but I feel like loud brash personalities are much more common here than in Utah. Some are so loud and whatever. Maybe it is just the people we hang out with. We are planning on Baptizing David next Saturday evening. I hope it goes as planned. I think he is excited but nervous too. His little brother Aaron wants to wait till after David is baptized then see how it goes so that is what we will do. I was hoping that they would be baptized at the same time but oh well. Not everyone thinks like I do.
David is the taller one on the right. He is 15 and his brother Aaron who is 10 is not in this picture. He has asked me to baptize him. I never expected to perform a baptism while here but I am so glad for the opportunity. We have spent a lot of time with them and helping them in their progress. I hope that before long they will both be baptized. We will pray this week that that they can all get baptized. His grandma Doris, next to Colleen, is excited to have a grandson baptized in the church. That makes him a 3rd generation member. That counts doesn't it? Even if Davids dad, Pedro, Doris's son is not a member. When we were out there last week the Jehovah's Witness people were there talking with Pedro, David's dad. After they left I talked with Pedro for a bit, he says he knows The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church, but they keep coming around anyway. I suppose that is how we are, if someone is kind enough to talk, we will teach about the church of Jesus Christ. Most everyone here is Christian, Evangelical is the main religion, some Catholic and some Jehovah's Witness. Here is another picture that Colleen took in church today. The girl in the middle is Yariani who is 11, she is David's Aunt Doris's daughter and Pedro's youngest sister, who was baptized a couple of years ago. So very cute! She talks soooo fast, it is getting easier to understand these people but some of them like Yariana talks so fast it is really hard for my old brain to keep up sometimes.
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