The Zone has exploded!

Elder Rios, Tito & Elder Ricks
(Tito owns the Internet Cafe' where we email home)

My Dear Family,

How is everyone doing? It of course, has been another amazing, awesome week. The blessings dont seem to stop for Elder Rios and I and I feel so humbled and blessed here in the mission field. This week we had three baptisms! We baptized the Grandmother and her grand-daughter on Monday like I commented last week and we baptized Tito this Saturday! Every time I help someone enter the baptismal font I experience such a strange mix of emotions. It is the same everytime with every investigator. It is a mix between the love I have for them and a sense of gratitude coming from God for the work I have done. Before the mission I dont think I ever thought back on my baptism and how I felt that day. But being here in the mission has helped me to remember that day with exactness. Baptism is something so sacred and yet so so very simple. I find it so interesting that being sinless, the Son of God, humbled himself to our level and was baptized, not to clean himself from sin, but to lay the example for us. I also know that the most important ingredient of a baptism is the authority. Many churches may baptize at the age of responsibility, and many churches may even baptize by summersion, but only one church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has the AUTHORITY to act in the name of God Almighty. Before the mission I did not understand that. Do we really understand the blessing and responsibility that it is to be able to claim God the Father's authority?

In last conference Pdte. Uchkdorf talked about a man who saved up money all his life to go on a 5 star cruise. He took suitcases full of food because he didn't have money to eat all the fancy elegant food aboard. The last day, a hostess asked him which goodbye party he wanted to attend and it was in that moment that he realized that he had wasted his whole week and alot of money. The food, entertainment and activities were free. (The Ricks family knows that! :) Pdte. Uchkdorf said that that man had lived far below his priveledges and applied it to us as priesthood holders. But it applies to all of us. Every time I see a child of God dressed in white, I realize the huge responsibility I have as a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ. Elder Rios and I are the ONLY two people in this city of thousands, worthy and authorized to preach the gospel and baptize. Not even the bishop and church leaders here in the ward are allowed. What a great responsibility and what a PRIVELDGE I have to do so.

This week was a week to test our faith and to see how devoted we really are. We worked our tails off all week and didnt see much success. But Sunday after church, we left excited and commited to forgetting ourselves in the work and the Lord blessed us. We passed by the house of a contact we did and found four new investigators and put four baptismal dates for the 30th. Four precious souls who have been waiting to be baptized. The miracles and blessings never end. Life is good as a missionary. One of my favorite things to do lately is mix up what I eat in the morning and at night. I get sick of cereal so I bought cream cheese and made heavenly quesadillas. I put cream cheese on the tortilla and then ham and warm it up on the piece of garbage electric stove we have! And they are... delicious! I love being a missionary. There is only one bad thing about serving a mission and that is that we are only allowed to serve for two years. I wish the time would never end. I love you all so much and thank you for your prayers and support and the photos! I about wet my pants when I saw the morph suits. I need one of those. I can't believe how big everyone is getting! Love you all!


Elder James Ricks