This week has been an interesting week. We had a baptism on saturday yay Alexander Maita!!! I met Alexander during the first week when I transfered here. From what I understand he has been investigating the church since before I started the mission. When I got here he already had been to church ten times and was pretty active in the YSA program here.
Hes 23 years old, his family is from Peru. They moved here when he was a kid I think. It was kind of cool to be a part of teaching him, it was a little strange because hes so close in age and usually the young adults here arent really so receptive. He plays guitar and spends a lot of time skating. It reminded me a little bit of working in the YSA branch back home. Hes really a cool guy, hes really smart,  and knows a lot about the culture in many countries including the united states. Hes quick to correct my spanish, which Ill admit bugs me a little bit because he talks so fast that I cant understand him when he talks. Hes pretty laid back too and hell joke around when were teaching which helps releive the tension from some of the bigger commitments we extend and at the same time he talks openly so we were able to talk about the doubts he had, it was refreshing to be able to teach someone like him. That said he was really a roller coaster of an investigator. I remember when I got here we were only able to meet with him once a week because of work and his girlfriend. His girlfriend seemed to be against him meeting with missionaries. We didnt understand why. We did what we could with one visit a week but it wasnt much. We invited him to be baptized and he told us he didnt want to and he talked about his doubts but i didnt really understand them. His mother than got into the advanced stages of pregnancy and told him that she doesnt want other people in the house while she is there. We had to drop him because there was no time at all anymore to meet. Two weeks later he calls us and tells us that he has more time to meet because things have been changing at work and he can meet during the week. We went and visited him and he accepted the baptismal commitment right away. I dont really understand the full story of what he didnt tell us but I have my theories. During the two weeks when we werent meeting he broke up with his girlfriend. He also told one of the girls in the YSA program at church that he had a crush on her on facebook, she didnt respond. My theory is that he was afraid that he was interested in the church for her and when she didnt respond he found that he still wanted to be part of the church. It would explain why the ex girlfriend was so against it at the time. Anyway I dont know all the details of what happened with these girls but Im certainly glad that he has a spiritual testimony over all.
The baptism took place on a saturday because he wanted it to be small. He got his wish, we gathered with about eleven saints from the Lo Campino ward and held a small low profile service. The calefont was out which meant that the water was ice cold. On top of that my companion who was to baptize him forgot his baptismal clothes so they found a tunic in the baptismal closet for him to use. He looked like the angel Moroni. I have pictures but im still trying to figure out how the system works here, I dont have a cable of my own so I have to borrow my comps. Ill try and include them next week. Other than that it was a very spiritual meeting. After the meeting we went to a members house for a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) to celebrate quietly. It was a nice night.
The next day was a stake sacrament meeting. They told us that he would be confirmed the next week because that was the policy, but the stake president has the power to change that. The representative from the stake asked us to come forward for the confirmation. We were completely surprised as we walked up with Alexander. When we got to the front, they asked me to do the confirmation O-o. So I gave my first baptism of fire in the spanish language on the spot in front of hundreds of chillean saints. Im sure they noticed Im a foreigner and Im sure I grew from this experience. More importantly, the spirit did direct me to bless Alexander to be a strong member and I know he will be.
In other news, we dropped about five other investigators and are brainstorming ways to find people more commited. Im trying to focus on the good news.
Anyways, I love you all very much. Until next week.
Jeremy