So this last week we had the baptism of this girl named Carry! She´s 15
years old and she was SO prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel.
Every time we had a lesson with her she just understood everything and was
always super excited to meet with us. She also loves reading the Book of Mormon
and loves going to church! The Lord definitely prepares people for us to teach,
and for that I am so grateful! Her baptism was beautiful! Carry shared her
testimony at the end of her baptism too and that is always a tear jerker for me
haha.
I´m officially done with my training! Which means my first 2 transfers are
over! Crazy how fast time flies. Me and my companion, Hermana Alvarez, are
staying with each other one more transfer since we opened a new area when we
came here. We get along really well! We are both converts so that´s been really
cool to share stories with each other about our beliefs before we joined the
church.
This weekend is General Conference for the church! I can´t wait! For those
of you that don´t know what general conference is it´s when the prophet and
apostles of the church give inspired speechs and it´s broadcasted throughout the
world. There are a couple sessions on Saturday and on Sunday as well. Out here
in Peru everyone watches it in Spanish obviously, but us American missionaries
get to watch it in English at a church building nearby so I´m super grateful for
that! I love conference because it´s a chance we get to listen to the counsel
and advice from people who have been inspired by God. It gives us an opportunity
to recieve personal revelation and inspiration that sometimes we didn´t even
know we needed.
This last week was the Semana Santa here in Peru, (Holy Week) and basically
everyone here is Catholic so it´s a pretty big deal. They even reenact Christ´s
Atonement.. we didn´t watch it but that´s just a tradition they do here. And
they sell pictures of Jesus and put up crosses everywhere, it´s really
interesting to see how different cultures celebrate Easter!
Easter is a super special time because we celebrate the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. But why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ so important? The
resurrection is one part of the Atonement of Christ. The Atonement encompasses
when Christ suffered in the garden of Gethsemane, when He died on the cross, and
his resurrection. Because Christ resurrected, we will be resurrected too. He
suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of all kinds so he would know how
to succor us in our infirmities, he has literally felt every pain that we will
ever feel in our entire lives. Through the Atonement of Christ we can become
clean of our trangressions. And when we repent, or become clean of these sins,
we are preparing to return to live with God. And thanks to Jesus and his
resurrection, our bodies will be reunited with our Spirits and we will live in
eternal happiness in the presence of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
forever. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the
history of mankind. It is so central to the plan that God has prepared for us.
Without the Atonement, we would not be able to return to live with God. I am so
grateful to be where I am teaching this principle to the people here in
Peru.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week (:
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Celardo
