MISSIONARY WORK IS ALL ABOUT JOY!!





One of our favorite things we do as mission president and wife is feel the "JOY" that missionary work is!  We feel that joy all the time  --   as we see the growth of missionaries, converts and members as them follow our Savior, Jesus Christ.

One very poignant place we feel this "JOY" is when we attend baptismal services for new converts!  What a special experience for us to share these experiences with our wonderful missionaries.

Every baptismal service is unique and wonderful, but let me share just a bit about two of the services we attended recently.

The first photo above, shows one man who was about to be baptized.  I don't know all the details of his story finding the Church and gaining a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I do know that one of the sweetest moments we all witnessed at his baptism, was to see him be raised up out of the waters of baptism, and see him burst into tears and hug the missionary who had just performed the ordinance.  He just kept crying and hugging!  He was clean!  He had experienced a "remission of his sins" and he was filled with "JOY"!  True "JOY"!  That is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings to people everyday!  

In the second photo, you will see a family with mother (pregnant), father and two children preparing to be baptized (along with another woman who was also being baptized in the same service).  When the mother in this family met the missionaries, she knew she needed the Gospel in her life.  She had a great desire to learn and knew it would bless their home and family.  The father in the family expressed how at first he had no interest in learning about the Gospel.  No interest whatsoever!  But as time passed, he began to learn and open his heart to the marvelous message the missionaries were sharing with them.  The father said he never had had any sense of purpose in his entire life.  And too, the father and mother said they had no idea what a family was and how they should act to become a family - instead of four people living in the same house.  Both the father and mother expressed their "JOY" and testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ  - to finally know that their lives had meaning and purpose and that, together, they could create an eternal family.  

Indeed, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about "JOY"!

*******************************VIVA MEXICO*************************************

One of the most wonderful things about Mexico is the PEOPLE!  Warm, generous, caring, friendly, loving, kind, and....families are so, So, SO important to them!  We love the Mexican people! 






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