Mateo in MEXICO: Mission accomplished

All right - so this week was HILARIOUS. Seriously.

We had the best baptism of my mission this weekend. It was also legit crazy and very stressful. I almost drowned Grammy. But it all worked out - Grammy and M. were baptized and confirmed. Mission accomplished. Well part of it...

SO I am going to try to explain it. Bear with me.

Apparently this week ALL of Iztapalapa lost water. (Our delegation) I didn’t really believe anyone because my house had water all day everyday... or I guess when we showered and used the toilets. So, I was super positive that everything would go perfectly fine for the baptism. Well we got there on Friday morning to fill up the baptismal font in a church building that isn’t ours because we knew that the heater would work there and we NEEDED hot water for Grammy because otherwise she would've died in cold water. So as we were filling up the font it got up to like one foot and then it stopped. So yeah I guess the water really did go out. We went up to the roof to see if there was still water in the big tanks and it was completely empty. And since the water was out in the delegation it wasn’t filling back up automatically. SO we immediately ran to the "pipas" which are huge trucks filled with water and begged them to bring us water to the church because it was an emergency. But they said that since everyone is out of water in the city there is a big wait list and I was just like “RUDE”. Obviously, salvation isn’t important to the pipas. So when we returned to the church everyone was there and ready for the baptism. But they were like “uh why is there only a little bit of water in there”.... And we were like “sorry it ran out of water”. So we were like "but we can go to the stake center and hope it works there". But they were like “NO its fine we can just sit down and get baptized”.... ??? WUT, uh are you sure? So M. is a big guy. He tried it out and GOT IN THE WATER to see if the water would cover his whole body by lying down. But his belly wouldn’t fit under the water and it was super awkward and I was just like “okay ya - no we are going to the stake center”. After we get to the stake center we see that the baptismal font is FILLED with clean water and i was like “WOOHOO”. But the bad thing was that is was COLD -like freezing cold. Like ice. We didn’t have the keys to empty out the font and so all we could do was fill it up with warm water and let it cycle through the drain on the side of the wall. So we stalled and took lots of photos. Then we finally were just like okay we are doing it. Grammy was freaking out. I was freaking out for her. But we all sucked it up and did it. M. went first and it all went well. Then it was my turn to baptize Grammy. She touched the water with her toes and was like "AYYYY SANTA MARIA QUE CALIENTE ES ESO?¿!?¿". lolol. So I WAS just like “it’s okay Hermana just get in and try to get used to it a little bit”. She was like falling in the water and couldn’t get control of herself. (I assume she can’t swim either.) So I just grabbed her and was like “okay use this hand to plug your nose so you don’t get it filled with a bunch of water”. I started to say the prayer and while I was pronouncing the ordinance she was like doing her own little catholic prayer and I was like “CRAP”. I guess the cold water made her forget that when we pray only one person talks. Then I said Amen and she legit did the catholic cross hand motion because she was freaking out so bad because it was freezing. HAHA. I was just like uh STOP. And I put her in the water. She was super focused that she left her mouth open and sucked in a whole bunch of water!!!!!!!!!1 She came out and was like dying coughing and had a look of terror on her face. I started hitting her back so she would spit it out so she could breath. And a bunch of water came out and she just started cracking up. She was like "WELL you told me to plug my noise but you didn’t tell me to close my mouth!?!?!" hahahaha. I was dead of shock, coldness, and laughter within myself. I immediately got out and couldn’t stop laughing. I was just so filled with joy that her and her son finally got baptized and that the baptism was so exactly perfect for them because it was the strangest baptism. I will never forget it. Sorry it probably isn’t funny here. You had to be there.

But now they are members and I am just so happy. I was SO filled with the spirit after the ordinance and just knew that they were feeling it as well. It is the best decision they could’ve made. NOW in one year they can be sealed as a family. They were the last ones of their family. It was great to see the change in them. What a miracle.

Okay so President changed the rule and now we only get an hour on the computers. So I am more pressured when I write and I can’t write as much. So that is probably good for you guys cause I always write a novel.

We have changes tomorrow!! I am so happy and content about them. Elder W. isn’t going far. He is actually staying in our same house!! Woohoo. He and I are going to train two newbies. Their names sound very gringo. So I will let you know next week how those white boys are... lol. Elder W. is staying in our ward and so we are just going to split our area for four missionaries now. 25 new missionaries are entering and only 2 are going home. President has been opening like 12-14 new areas for the past two changes and will keep doing it until like March or something. SO MANY MISSIONARIES! And it’s so many for us because our mission is already tiny tiny - like almost the smallest mission in the world. Love it.

Anyway. I love you guys. Know this church is true. God loves us and wants to forgive us when we make mistakes. We just have to start living with the set of rules he has given us so we can have His Spirit with us in this life to prepare us to live with him in the next life. He doesn’t necessarily make life easier, but he makes our burdens lighter. With this help, we are made stronger to pass through tough things.

Love God, and always forgive others so we can be worthy to receive forgiveness from Him.

Anyways. Happy birthday Amy? I don’t remember if it was or will be your birthday. But I love you and wish you this happy birthday.

Oh yeah. Happy Thanksgiving. I'll eat tacos, so don’t worry about me. Be grateful for your families, friends, and the Gospel in your lives. It will make you happier!

Con AMOR,

Elder Macdonald