Elder Sluder's Mission Blog: Cristina's Baptism

July 5, 2010

Dear Family,

Wow what a week I have had!!! This was probably the most rewarding, best week of the mission I have had and at the same time the most difficult! First, on Wednesday I had interviews with the mission president. I didn’t think too much about it, but when I went in to have my interview, what the mission president told me definitely startled me. He first said that he was way super happy and super proud of the work that I have been doing and then he told me that I had succeeded in my special assignment. I didn’t even know that I had a special assignment! He told me that my companion was having a lot of trouble working and just being a missionary in his last area. So he sent him to me to help him change in the last assignment of his mission. I really don’t know what I did, but I definitely got a good report. President DaSilva said he couldn’t believe our number of baptisms and the lessons we were teaching. It was super cool. We are now starting the last week of his mission and I can tell he is dying to just get out of here. I can’t really blame him, but I will make him work till the last second. Ha ha ha

Friday night Uruguay won the semi-finals to the world cup and they’re part of the final four countries still playing. It’s a really big Deal!!!! This place was on fire on Friday night!!! We went down to the city square to see what was going on and it was the craziest thing I have ever experienced!!! These people love their soccer!!! I got some good video of South American soccer riots and definitely got to scream with the rest of these crazy Uruguayans VAMOS ARRIBA URUGUAY!!!!! It was the coolest!!! So tomorrow they will play Holland and if they win that game, they will be playing the last game of the world cup either against Germany or Spain! I really have come to love soccer like the rest of these people. It’s awesome!!!!

On Saturday I did it!!!! I baptized Cristina Correa!!! She was the biggest miracle of my mission. The baptism was perfect and everything worked out so smooth! Cristina got up to bear her testimony at the end of the meeting. In her testimony she said that the evening we knocked on her door for the first time, she was just incredibly angry with the whole world and honestly thought about killing herself. At first, she didn’t think much about us and had no problem shutting the door in our face. But when a few days passed and we returned telling her that we only wanted to help her out, she could feel the love we had for her and let us in. It was that simple. It was just service and love. At her baptism, I don’t think there was a dry eye. It was truly one of the most incredible moments of my life. It’s amazing to see the Evangelio de jesucristo change people’s lives. I have now come to the conclusion that if Cristina is the last person that I baptize for the remainder of the year I have left, I don’t care. She was worth the two years that I spent looking. I never thought in all my life that I would love some 54 year old Uruguayan woman who was a little on the crazy side. Cristina is the miracle of my mission.

I've included some pictures of the baptism.

I have two other baptisms planned for the 17th of July and I will be baptizing a whole family that I have been teaching on the 15th of August. It’s the best ever!!!

I got the letter from Nolan Gunnell. I never did receive a first one. THANKS NOLAN! You’re the bomb!

Well I love you all and thanks for all that you have been doing.

Love you all,
Elder John P. Sluder