We had a great weekend because Candelaria was baptized!!! It was so special to see the transformation of Candelaria through her conversion process. We have grown to be great friends and seeing her completely change from a person who didn't have a direction in her life to someone who is happier and has a light within her. She completely changed her life and her habits to follow the Lord and become a member of The Church. She was a coffee addict and she committed to obey the Word of Wisdom and from drinking liters of coffee every day to nothing in a couple months is truly a miracle.
Candelaria has major health problems that have to do with tumors that she has. The past year she's been seeing specialists and traveling to Oaxaca City to be treated. Now, they don't have the money to keep traveling and paying for those treatments. We promised her that she will be blessed and healed as she keeps the word of wisdom and prepares to be baptized and keep following Christ. She mentioned to us once that she had a lot of pain that wouldn't go away and when she offered a prayer pleading to God to take away the pain because she was doing her best to do what the Elders were teaching her. She said almost instantly after the prayer the pain didn't return the entire day and night.
It has been such a blessing for me to be a part of the conversion of Candelaria. She's someone very special. One thing that I have learned on the mission that miracles are real and there are many in the Church of Jesus Christ, as it was in the early primitive church.
January 6th was el dia de reyes. In Latino culture they celebrate the 6th as the day that the wise men arrived and gave baby Jesus gifts. They celebrate it by giving all the children toys and gifts and they eat a special pastry bread called rosca de reyes. They actually don't really give many gifts on Christmas, its the dia de reyes when most of the gift giving happens, especially for the kids. We bought a rosca de reyes and some superheroes action figures, dolls, hot wheels and a beautiful new soccer ball for the nephews of Candelaria. They are super good kids and they live in really humble circumstances so we decided to surprise them and they loved it!
It was a special week and I'm for sure going to soak it all in these next couple of weeks because before I know it ill be back home. I'm excited to get home but the time on the mission really is sacred and I'm going to miss it.
Love you all a ton! Hasta muy pronto.
-Elder Smith
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