Pictures of the Familia Parada Ortiz and the missionaries on my birthday
My birthday dinner with Hermano Juan and Hermana Rogelia
Baptism of Jose Manuel
Hello family!
How is eveyrone today? I love you all! I hope that everyone is happy and well up there in Utah! We have had a good week this week! We were working hard to get a lot of baptisms for this weekend but we only had one! The rest will be next weekend! It was really special! Hno. Jose Manuel (the guy that can't talk because he had surgery) was baptized! He is so excited and he loves the church! I got to baptize him and it was a cool experience! As you know, he has a hole in his throat and something I didn't know before I met him, is that people that have those holes breath through them! Well, I am telling you this to let you know of a unique challenge that we had when he was baptized! Normal people can close their mouth and plug there nose to not let water in when they are baptized but he cant do it the same way! He knew that he had a bit of a risk of choking by letting water go into the hole but he didnt care and still wanted to take the risk! He covered the hole the best he could but he still choked a little bit but he is alright! He just coughed a little bit! But it was good...He is so amazing! He is always, always smiling and is really happy to be a part of the church!
I attached a couple pictures of me, of the baptism and of a surprise birthday cake that the Familia Parada Ortiz gave me! They are so nice! I had a good birthday this last week! Like I mentioned, I got to do service in the morning and help a lady mix cement to build a house! And then we worked normally all day! We also went to dinner with Hno Juan and Hna Rogelia (The lady that will be coming this week to visit! They are so nice!) They bought us steak and it was really good! But the Familia Parada Ortiz was the best! They totally surprised me! I didn't even know they knew it was my birthday and when we got there they came out with this huge cake with candles! I loved it! They are a lot nicer than the missionaries that smashed cake in my face on Monday! haha (That was funny they weren't really mean, I enjoyed it all!) But all in all, it was a good birthday! Thanks for thinking of me! I love you all!
So this week that is coming, we should have several more baptisms - pray for us! We have a family also that is getting papers from Nicaragua to be able to get married at the beginning of May! Pray for them as well! I love them all and I am so glad that we are able to do so much amazing work here in El Salvador! I love the gospel and the church and just everything!
Well, that's about all I have to say today! I was just joking about the "secrets" that I said last week! I really don't have any secrets! Maybe things that are better told in person that I want to wait to tell, but no secrets! It's kind of fun to be away from loved ones for so long! (I would never be away this long for any other reason apart from church service though! haha) but I am excited to be back! I love you all and I miss you all! Pray to help me have lots of energy to keep finishing strong! Thanks for all your prayers and love!!!
Love,
Braden
P.S. Grandma, I would love to do some of your male ancestor's names! I can start the Friday after I get home! Love you Grandma!
it' s fun to see you both with shovels!!!!
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