"Why we are baptized"

Hey! Yo, family!

Thank you for the Easter videos! Dylan (Derek’s 16-year old brother) looks soooo long in that video! Has he been growing? I hope not . . . LOL . . .

And Zander (Derek’s 22-month old nephew) is a man now! Wow! He just has to learn to pull the trigger with the bat! He’s always watching . . .

As for sending you pictures, I will probably send another package soon. I can’t just send the memory card in a letter ‘cause it’s too risky. But I’ll try to get it sent out within a few weeks.

I was so happy, too, that it clicked with me that I could have Zusi e-mail you guys for me! She speaks amazing English, too! I’m glad Dad was happy. I hope he didn’t cry, though . . . Hee, hee . . .

This week I don’t have much to say . . .

Butler in the finals????? Whaaaa whaaaa? You guys know those are my boys! Sooooo cool!

This week we had Zone Conference. Elder Empey, from my Zone, gave a talk. Two other Elders also spoke at the Conference. They all did really well, but I thought Empey really did the best. Of course, President Torres brought down the house with his talks. He’s a man of much knowledge . . . LOL . . . Zone Conference was also fun ‘cause I got to see my boy, Elder Legua! He needs to be my companion someday. Free lunch with a brownie also topped off the Conference! It was one of the best Zone Conferences I’ve ever attended.

We still have dates for nine baptisms in my Area. We have four scheduled for this Saturday, one for the next Saturday and four more for the Saturday after that. I’m getting’ a li’l stressed and anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like that. But, the four who are supposed to baptized this Saturday are soooo close and I think they have a few challenges. Just keep ‘em in your prayers . . . Luis, Paola, Cindy and Noly . . . I really think we can help them with amazing lessons and lots of faith and prayer.

I realize that a lot of people who read my blog probably don’t understand why I get so excited and stressed when baptisms are coming up. So . . . I’d like to explain my feelings to all of you real quick.

Jesus Christ was a perfect being and He was baptized. He taught that baptism is a saving ordinance. We know today that no one can return to the presence of our Father in Heaven without a baptism that is done with authority. As Jesus was baptized by John (a holder of the Holy Priesthood since he was a child, as we read in the book of Luke), He was setting an example. We can’t be baptized by whoever we want. We must be baptized by someone who holds the authority to baptize.

Jesus also showed us, in the book of Matthew, that we must make the decision to be baptized. Jesus was not baptized by David when he was an infant. Jesus made a clear cut decision to be baptized. We should do the same. To be baptized is to make a holy promise with God that that we will keep his commandments for the rest of our lives. A little child that can’t make his or her own decisions cannot make an acceptable promise with God because the little child has no idea what he or she is doing. Children are placed where their parents put them, they eat what their parents feed them, and they have no power of their own. We have the opportunity to make the decision to be baptized, just as Christ did!

We are also clean from sin when we are baptized. Little children have no sins because they don’t even know right from wrong yet. They have learned nothing and know nothing as children, so they cannot sin. If a baby dies as a little child, they go directly to live with our Heavenly Father. I testify that God love children and would never cast out one of them for not being baptized when they were a baby. He loves us all too much. Can you really imagine a God that punishes little children for not doing something that they have no power or control over doing? I sure can’t . . .

God loves us and wants us to enter His kingdom. We must be baptized to enter His kingdom. It can save us if we do it correctly and endure to the end after our baptism.

The General Conference was amazing! I thought the Priesthood session was the best I’ve ever seen! I almost always just got bored in the Priesthood session, but this one was amazing. I loved the talk by Elder Uchtdorf in the Priesthood session and I loved many others but I don’t have time to talk about all of them even though I brought my Conference notes so I could tell you! I just don’t have time now! It was amazing, though! And, Elder Rasband’s talk about how missionaries are called was REALLY cool! Also, Elder Martino’s talk was awesome! Just five weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet him and I talked to him personally for like 15 minutes! Cool, huh? It was an amaziiiiiinnnnngggg Conference!

Well, that’s all I’ve got to say for now! I sure love you guys! And, yea baby . . . Ten months! Double digits, yo! Be safe and good all of you! I love you more than you all know! Really, though!