Best Weekend of My Mission!

Dear Family,

This week was amazing! Or rather, this weekend, because all the important things happened on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday Hna Navarro and I got to see Mariana, our investigator from last transfer who really lived in the Villa Tesei ward, get baptized! Elder Hernandez and Elder Kimball (who reminds me a lot of Benjamin) started teaching Mariana and her sisters Dahiana and Ramona. After a lot of work, Mariana received permission from her mother to be baptized! Her mom, Miriam, is still lukewarm because her boyfriend (who she lives with) doesn't like the church very much, but she gave Mariana permission. A saintly sister in the ward who has a daughter close to Mariana's age lives two blocks away and takes Mariana and her sisters to church. So we got to go to Villa Tesei to see Mariana get baptized! She was so cute in her baptismal dress. She seemed pretty happy to be baptized, and the ward members there really love her a lot. The elders promised us they will keep teaching Dahiana and Ramona and have plans to baptized them next transfer. And they are still teaching my other investigators Marta and Graciela! So in the end, losing half my investigators to the elders was the best thing that could have happened! Those two were the ones with the special combination of personalities and Spirit and talents to help Mariana get baptized and help the other investigators progress!

Yesterday, Sunday, was one of the most beautiful days of my mission. My investigators Olga and Gaston were baptized. Olga was baptized before the meetings started because she wanted a small service with few people attending. It was the most spiritual baptismal service I've ever attended in the mission. Hna Navarro and I gave the talks. We spoke directly to her and her eyes were moist as we reminded her of the covenant she was about to make and of the blessings of the Holy Ghost. The water in the font was cold (we had promised it wouldn't be but the first counselor pressed the wrong button on the water heater! Olga wanted to kill us, but she was a trooper.), but Olga was so happy to have been baptized. When she received the Holy Ghost during sacrament meeting, she was smiling and had a look of peace on her face. I couldn't stop grinning the whole time. I was so happy for her. It took her a long time to be baptized, but she was such a prepared investigator. She really understands the importance of baptism and despite her fears, she chose to be baptized because she wants to follow Jesus Christ.

After the meetings Gaston was baptized. He had finally removed his eyebrow piercing even though he had to use pliers to take it out, haha) and it was so wonderful to see him dressed in white. His road to baptism was not easy, but you could see in his face that he had transformed into a different person. Gaston gave up smoking (among other substances), overcame trials, and learned to have faith-- he came unto Christ in the fullest sense of the expression. I've imagined seeing Gaston be baptized by his brother Sebastian since I began teaching Gaston over a month and a half ago. I felt immense gratitude that the moment had finally arrived, and awe at the sacredness of what I was witnessing. Sebastian baptized Gaston and then they embraced. It was the most beautiful moment of my mission. At the end of the service, Seba shared his testimony. He said he was so happy that Gaston was baptized and that they are the first two members in their family. Then he looked at his mom, Marta, who was sitting in the front row, and said that he feels that with time she will be baptized too! Marta's eyes were wet and she was half smiling. It was a spiritually intense moment.

Yesterday was the last day of the transfer and I've been transferred to Ramos Mejia, just a half hour bus ride away from Hurlingham, where the mission office is. Of my three areas, Hurlingham was the hardest to leave. I really learned to love the members of Hurlingham and my investigators and my companion Hna Navarro. I have never loved my investigators so much as I learned to love Olga, Gaston and Pamela (who received permission from her parents to get baptized in October, even though they wouldn't let her be baptized this weekend!). And I've never loved my companion as much as I loved Hna Navarro! We became such good friends and she helped me so much. We really learned from each other and supported each other in all the difficult times, and she helped me learn to love the investigators as much as I did. Saying goodbye to Pamela and to my converts Elvira, Celeste, Evelyn, Olga and Gaston was very difficult. On Sunday night we went to Gaston's house so I could say goodbye to him and to Sebastian. Celeste, my convert from May, was there too (I really think she and Gaston have a thing going! They've become super good friends and Gaston loves Ludmila, Celeste's 3 year old daughter. Future eternal family!). We just sat and talked and I never wanted to leave. I asked the three of them to write in my notebook. They each thanked me so sincerely for helping them find the gospel (or in Sebastian's case, helping his brother to find it and for being his friend) that I was in awe. Celeste, Gaston and Seba are so wonderful and have so much potential. Those three are going places (and Seba is hopefully going on a mission!!!). Gaston says someday he wants to come visit me in the U.S someday!
Afterwards I said goodbye to Elvira and shared one last scripture with her. She told me how much she loves being a member of the church and how much peace she feels now. She says she wants to be baptized in the temple for her dead mother! She has such a strong testimony!

I'm so grateful Heavenly Father let me meet and baptized my converts in Hurlingham. Through them, he will bless generations in both directions. Celeste and Gaston will have kids someday (not necessarily together, but you never know :) ) and those children will be born in the gospel. And Celeste told me that she wants Ludmila to get baptized when she turns 8! And Elvira and Olga will be baptized for their deceased family members who are waiting for the blessings of the gospel. Olga lost her entire family one by one, including her husband who died in a car accident two years after they were married, over 40 years ago. The gospel has given her the way to be able to see her husband and her family again after this life!

Today when Hna Navarro and I came to the mission office to go to the transfer meeting, we both cried. I didn't want to switch companions or leave my converts and Pamela. I feel like I left my heart in my old area, but I'm excited to come to love the people here in Ramos Mejia like I learned to love the people in Hurlingham. I know the Lord has people prepared here who need me to bring them the gospel, together with Hna Azcurra, my new Argentine companion from Mar del Plata. (3 Argentine companions in a row = kick butt Spanish at the end of my mission! And I love the Argentine sisters!)

I love you all: Mom, Dad, Eliza, Ben, Emma and Dan! Elder Clark, keeping working to learn to share that gospel! You are a truly great missionary! And the rest of you, invite those friends to church! Sharing the gospel is so important, because nothing we can do to help someone is as life saving for them as giving them the gospel. I love you! Thanks for everything!

Love,
Ellis

P.S. I hope you didn't tell me anything important, because I didn't have time to read your emails.