I've attached some pictures of the baptism we had last weekend! Well, I guess technically the baptism counted for the other missionaries. Well, I guess the baptism really counted for God. Details details. In any case, the Garcia family finally got baptized! It. Was. Amazing. I had the opportunity to baptize Jose and Andrea, and Elder Wilcox came from Mesa (where he got transferred) and baptized the two kids. After the baptismal service, I got to hear the sweet sweet testimonies of the new converts. Let me tell you: Nothing is more amazing than hearing the testimony of a new convert. Especially when you helped that new convert to find that testimony. It is so amazing to see the fruits of our labors and it all really pays off! During Jose's testimony, he essentially said that he covenants with God that he will always be active in the church. What was really amazing is that he said that he wanted his grandkids to be able to grow up with the Gospel entirely throughout their life so that they wouldn't have to know what it's like to live without it. Holy cow! So powerful. So humbling. Helps me really understand how much of a blessing it is to be able to have been born into the gospel. Thanks Mom and Dad! :)
We went on the Rez a couple days last week! I thought Central Phoenix was an iffy place. Central Phoenix ain't got nothin' on the Rez. Just kidding, it's actually pretty much the same. We haven't really been able to do a whole lot of damage on the Rez, because it's so far in the south part of our area. Much like the Laveen part of Capitol ward was way far south. We did manage to find a couple young teenage boys to teach. Looking at them, you really wouldn't think that they'd be interested at all about talking about Jesus Christ. But, we just approached them anyway and started talking to them. We invited them to pray in between our next visit. We scheduled another appointment and in my head I was thinking "there's no way they're going to show up for this appointment." Tsk tsk Elder Cox, how dare you lost faith?! But, we went back and lo and behold, they were there. Even more, they actually did what we asked them to do! They live a pretty sad life and they're both dropped out of school, but when we talked about baptism and how we could have all our mistakes washed away, they seemed to really take interest in the message we have to share. We asked them if they'd prepare for baptism, and they told us yes!
We also found this other guy named Taylor. Taylor lives in a group home for crazy people (to put it ever so tactfully) but he's actually really sincere. He was a referral from the Sister missionaries who met him when he was pounding on the doors of the church saying that he needed to be saved, and he needed to join a church. While he sounds crazy, he's really teachable, and he really understands the message that we have to share! Taylor already really loves the Book of Mormon and he carries it around with him everywhere so that he can read it every day. How cool is that?! We haven't met with him for a couple days because he says he "accidentally" hitchhiked to Flagstaff, which is like two hours away. He's got a little bit of different wiring, but I firmly believe that Taylor will be baptized.
I forgot to mention our living conditions! Remember Trailside? This is smaller than Trailside. In Trailside we had a fridge and some kitchen appliances in our room as well as an attached bathroom so we never had to leave the room. Not only that, but our Trailside room had its own front door. This housing situation, we just share the house with the members. We have a tiny tiny room with a single desk and two beds. Our bathroom is down the hall, and we share the kitchen with the members. While it might sound like I'm complaining, in reality I'm just stating facts! It's really altogether a good move. We're right in the middle of our area, and logistically everything is just way better! Brother Bezold even is so nice that he insisted to do our laundry every P-day. Hey, I can't complain about that! While it's really awkward that he's going to be washing my underwear, the lazy part of me just accepts the fact and moves on. Even more of a bonus, apparently Brother Bezold is a renown pie baker. We haven't had the opportunity yet to taste one of his famous pies, but I'm sure the time is soon approaching! The Bezolds are way awesome and really, it's not as bad as you might think it is.
Hmm. Well I didn't remember to write down anything else fantastic that happened this week, so I guess that will have to do!
Love y'all!
-Elder Cox
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