I was able to go to the temple on saturday with our branch, and I had brought family names with me. Presidente Carmack showed up last minute to do some interviews, and he asked if I wanted to preform the baptisms for my family names. A very, very special Saturday indeed. The most incredible part was being in the baptistry. A little old man had walked through the entire temple with the bottom of his white shoes unglued-- leaving sticky redisdue on EVERYTHING. I went to the cleaning closet, got a rag, and began scrubbing the tiled floors of the temple on my hands and knees. I just felt an immense JOY. One of the cranky members from our branch said, "Bond, get up. You cant do anything to clean this mess!" To which I replied, "Hermano, if this was your house, I would stand up. But this is the house of my Father, and I will clean this mess until it is gone." He wasn't too happy with my reply. But I was grateful to serve the Lord in a different way. I love the temple. One of the temple workers, Sister Broadbent, held my hand and said, "How great will be your reward!" I am trusting in that great promise.
Thursday night we had our typical "Group Night" in the chapel, but we organized it really well, and got the members pumped up for it. We had SEVENTY people come!!! 70! seven z e r o! WOAH! It was so great, and we had a wonderful time!
I hit one year on the mission this week. That is absolutely amazing. The Lord has brought me this far, and I am excited to see where the last stretch of the mission takes me. I have really been enjoying the Alma chapters in the Book of Mormon, and I feel as though those prophets wrote their accounts for ME. Life is beautiful, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes it even more so.
I love you all.
