9 Abril 2001

Dear Family,

How's everything? Well, I hope. Things out here are going pretty well, too. Starting out a new week every Monday is kind of like baptism - we start all over again, leaving behind our past and starting with a new slate. Sometimes you don't regret the week left behind, but many, many times P-Day just doesn't arrive fast enough, just like a baptismal date.

This week we experienced a really neat story with one of our families who we're teaching, the Pernia family. We first got in contact with them when Alvey was here. One night Elder Alvey and I were on splits, and as he and his comp were walking in the plaza a man approached him and started talking with him. Well, this man is the husband and father in this family He wrote down the address and we tried for a long time to catch them in their house but it was never possible. Finally Elder Alvey leaves and in his place comes Elder Painter. We both try at least 4 times passing by their house until we are blessed and they're home! We share the 1st charla with them (husband, wife, son - 12 years) which was fantastic. During the second charla the Spirit strongly testified of the truthfulness of the things we were teaching, so we are a little surprised at the end when we invite them to be baptized and they say that they're not sure, they express doubts about the importance of it, etc. But we do commit them to talk and pray about it. We return in about 2 days to see how it all went, and they had done it but with no spectacular events, so we read together 3 Nephi 27 and talk about the baptism, that it really is an offer to lose all of your sins and start over. The Spirit again testified beautifully and firmly that what we were saying was true, and they, too, felt it - in fact Hector (the husband) suggests on his own that they pray about it as a family that very night. We assumed then that that was the thing they needed to do and we set up an appointment with them for 3 days later. Well, the next day, we chance upon them in the plaza. We decided to go see how they're doing, so we went up and talked about how they're doing, etc. Then all of a sudden both Hector and Belkis, the wife, bring up the prayer they had that very night before. They explained how they both prayed holding hands and asked the Lord to please give them an answer as to what they should do. After the prayer, Belkis picks up the Book of Mormon and opens it up randomly, just to find a passage in the visit of Christ in the Americas speaking about baptism. Now usually I'm not a fan at all of the "random-book-opening" technique but the Spirit told me that it was true, and then Hector looked at me and said, "And now I feel like I want to get baptized, whenever you guys want to do it," and his wife echoed the same thing. And the son he was willing in the 2nd charla. So last night we passed and, after teaching the 3d charla, we set the baptismal date on the 28th of April. It truly was a blessing and a miracle.

I have to go but I know that Jesus is the Christ and our only "way, truth, and life" for us.

Chao!

Elder Onken P.S. Jennifer was really excited to have spoken with mom!