Family Baptism and PICTURES!

Querida familia,

Happy birthday Jo in three days!! And Grayer in five days!! And Pierce--well, you have another Pday, but happy birthday in nine days!! Wow, so many June bugs.

Today I'm really hoping to get some pictures sent off, so I won't have much time to write.

The familia Ro was baptized on Saturday!!! It was absolutely wonderful. Sister Novakovich played the piano and I sang "When I Am Baptized" in my shaky voice--I've never sung a solo before, so happy baptism day present to you, familia Ro.

The first picture is the family before their baptism. The father and taller son are Ra (13) and the smaller son is Cr (11). The second picture is them after the baptism (after Ra the father and Cr shared their testimonies and were crying) with Sister Lewis. The third picture, if I remember right, is the boys (Ra, Cr, and Jo) after a lesson--Jo with his lollipop, of course, and Ra with his goofy outfit). The next is Sister Novakovich and I eating habaneros the very first time she met them. Sister's tongue was on fire and her face turned red and she was like milk! milk! even though she's lactose intolerant. Habaneros are killers. And we ate cueritos--pig skins in vinegar--that night, too. Another pic is when we did service for Sister Schow in the scorching sun, but no worries, she gave us some straw hats from Puerto Vallarta to battle the electric rays (we were a sweaty mess after). And there's the lovely Sister Schow!!! And a picture of our district last night at Bishop Woodland's house after dinner with the family. Yep, all 10 missionaries serve in the same ward.

The baptism was really great. Ra gave such a wonderful testimony of his gratitude to be a member of the Church. He was really choked up when he said that Heavenly Father sent us sisters to his home. He called us Hermana "Brinca" and Hermana "Novaca." :) It was a very touching testimony--he has truly been touched by the Spirit and changed. At times I think that I was sent on my mission just for them. I feel a special connection to each member of that family, and the first year of my mission has been preparation for finding and teaching them. We promised them last night that we'll return to go to their sealing in a year in the temple!!! So I'll need to be planning a trip back to Sacramento next June. :) We had a lesson with them last night about temples and taught them the first verse of "I love to see the temple"--everyone was singing, and I think Ra el padre was singing the loudest. :) He loves us--we love them!!

I went on my last exchange for the transfer. It was fun, but I don't like being out of my area for a whole day. The whole week gets kind of funky when that happens. But we had a great week baking in the sun. Woof it's so hot. My left arm keeps getting sunburned.

Love you all! Sounds like you're doing well! 

Love,

kates