Week 74 : The Salvatierra fam

During my last transfer in Hesperia Elder Nordgren and I were preparing for the baptism of our investigator Vivan. We were all set and the Saturday came. We didn't have anything planned for the morning before the baptism so we filled it doing some tracting (we did a lot of that in that area). It was slightly raining and we were coming to the last house on the block without much luck. We knocked and met Tony and Lupe Salvatierra, talked to them for a couple minutes and told us we could come back the next Saturday. Pretty average contact. Well we show up the next Saturday and they have snacks and waters on the table for us and the family is there ready to take notes. A couple weeks later we both got transferred.
This Saturday comes around, 8 months later, and they got baptized!
So here's how Saturday went:
Elder Worsham and I drove up to Rancho to meet with the office elders, Elder Nordgren and Elder Bryner. We swap companions and then Elder Nordgren and I head up the pass to the desert. It felt pretty weird being back but it brought back some good memories from when Elder Nordgren and I had been companions there. We got up there in really good time so we stopped at one of my recent convert's house. His name is Tosin and I taught him on my second day in the mission. He's been through a lot of health struggles so when we got there his son opened the door (a lot taller than 16 months ago) and we asked if Tosin was home. He went and talked to Tosin and the boy came back and informed us that he was sleeping. A little disheartened I told the boy to make sure that he knew Elder Puzey had stopped by and when I said my name we hear from somewhere in the house. "Oh Elder Puzey come in! Come in!" We didn't have much time to talk but it was so good to see him. He hasn't been able to make it to church in a while because he's basically home bound but still has more faith than anyone I've ever met. We hugged goodbye and then headed to the church for the baptism.
When we got there (still pretty early) Elder Etheridge (my trainer) showed up to pick up some supplies we had with us in the office truck. He only has one week left so it was good to see him before he went back to Alabama. 
We went into the building and there were some people from the good ol Bear Valley ward. There were hugs and handshakes all around. Lupe (the mother of the family) saw us and got all excited and said that her boys were home.There were even some returned missionaries that showed up that had helped teach the family. The baptism went really well and things went a lot smoother than our last baptism in the Bear Valley ward..
It was amazing to see such a prepared family receive the gospel and be grafted into my favorite ward. It was a tender time for many of us.
Then Elder Nordgren and I drove back down the back way talking all the way down. When we got back to Rancho we went out to Chilis to celebrate. It was the best day of my mission. 
So that's how I spent my birthday. I could not have asked for a better gift. I know this gospel has been restored to help families be happy and to be together forever. I love you all!

Love,
Elder Puzey

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