April 29, 2013 - A Miraculous Week Full of Trials, Triumphs...Ending The Week By Helping 5 Children of God Enter the Waters of Baptism

Queridos Amigos e Família,

   I can´t even begin to describe how busy, stressful, and satisfying this past week was. To say the least it  was a roller coaster of emotions this past week. Elder Hobbs and I set a goal to help at least eight of God´s children enter the waters of baptism this month of April, and when this month started it looked very probable that we would meet our goal. However as the middle of the month arrived, not too many of the investigators that we had were progressing, but we didn´t give up hope. In order to help our investigators progress and be baptized, Elder Hobbs and I decided  to obey the mission rules and schedule with even more exactness than before. As we began obeying with even more exactness, and prayed every morning and night to be able to help 8 of God´s children enter the waters of baptism, it seemed as though everything started going right. 
   Miraculously this past Tuesday two of our investigators who we´ve been working with for about a month received permission from their reluctant mom to be baptized. These two investigators Kaoane, 8 years old, and her older sister, Katiane, 9 years old, stopped drinking coffee, learned to pray (something they never knew how to do a month ago) and  gained a great desire to be baptized. Their older brother José, 12 years old, was baptized a few years, fell away from the church, and now he is in the process of being reactivated to activity in the church with a few of his cousins, who fell away from the church as well. 

   Yet another miracle occured a little less than two weeks ago as we were teaching Ana Claudia, a 23 year old single mom of 3 kids (6, 4 and 2 years old), and her parents. Her older sister Viviane, 31 year old mom of 4 kids (13, 8, 4 and 3 years old) and Viviane´s daughter, Amanda (13 years old), sat in on one of our lessons and in that very lesson we invited them to be baptized. We taught them practically every day from that day on, taught them the Word of Wisdom on Tuesday night and they gave us their four bags of coffee to throw away and decided to not drink coffee anymore. As the week progressed, Ana Caludia, Viviane and Amanda gained a desire to be baptized as well. 

   With all this said, Sunday arrived and after a 2 hour stake conference, Kaoane, Katiane, Ana Claudia, Viviane and Amanda entered the waters of baptism, and a new light and spirit entered their lives. I know miracles are real and that these 5 children of god are fruits of hard work, exact obedience and the hand of God in this work.

Thank you all for your love and support...Have faith in miracles beacause they happen, and not just in the life of a missionary.

Ame,

Elder Hokanson

PS- Attached is a picture of yesterday´s baptism. In White from left to right (Elder Hokanson, Kaoane, Katiane, Elder Hobbs, Amanda, Ana Claudia and Viviane)