My first baptism in Veracruz Mexico!

My Family,

Life is good here in Lamanite country. First and most important, I had my first baptism here in Mexico! We baptized three and had a special service for them. They were pure gold and were truly prepared to accept our Savior and follow his footsteps into the font. Their names are Maria del Rosario and her son Jose, and another boy named Kevin. Jose is 8 and Kevin is 10. They are strong and know the gospel is true. Everything about the baptism was perfect. Except for one thing. I have had the most painful stomach aches in my entire life this last week and for Saturday afternoon right after the baptism and all day Sunday I was sick in bed. It felt like my stomach was cut open and I couldn´t do anything about it. Oh... it was horrible. I talked to Hermana Hansen and she told me what things to do and to buy popsicles and Gatorade. Last night, I asked Elder Gutierrez for a Priesthood blessing, and after he gave me one, we went to bed. I slept the whole night without waking up and now I´m completely better! I´m only telling you this story because it made the baptism interesting. I missed about ten minutes of the baptismal service because I was in the bathroom fighting a battle. I barely returned to the room where the meeting was when it was time to do the baptisms. I was blessed with the opportunity to do the baptism for two of the three people and loved it. The instant I stepped in the water, the problems went away and I could focus. Right when I got out, they came back. It made me think about how much power God has. He is everything. We are so small compared to him. He is big enough to control the forces of the Universe, yet small enough to hear our every prayer. My theme this week is on the glory of God. We are so so so so humbly blessed with the knowledge that we chose our Fathers plan simply by the fact that we are here on the Earth. We made the right choice. Now, we just have to do the things we need to do return to live with him. I love this Gospel and I love what I am doing. I love you all so much! Thank you all so much for all you do for me. I keep you in my prayers every night and day!

Elder James Ricks