LIMPIO

7 December 2014

Dear Bryant, 

Happy Birthday on Tuesday!  What special plans do you have to celebrate?  We were so happy to hear that you will be baptized on Saturday.  Now everyone in your family will be a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Please send us an email about your baptism and how you felt.

I had a special experience at our Zone Meeting where the elders were having a “practicar” which means they were practicing how they would invite an investigator to be baptized.  I was the investigator and they were talking to me in Spanish.  I am working on learning Spanish, but I couldn’t quite get what they were saying.  Elder Webster kept saying this one word that I didn’t know what it meant.  He kept saying “limpio”.  I kept thinking, “What is limpio?”  “What does that mean?”  And then he asked me to read a scripture.  He asked me to find Tercer Nefi, capítulo veintesiete y versículo diez y nueve (3 Nephi 27:19, 20, 21).  So those words I understood, and I opened my English BoM and found the scripture and read, “And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom…. 

And then it came to me that “limpio” meant “clean”.  We have to be clean to enter into his kingdom!!

Then he had me read what Jesus said in verse 20, “…come unto me and be baptized in my name, THAT YE MAY BE SANCTIFIED by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day…       For that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do.”

Well, since I was an “investigator”, I told Elder Webster and Elder Pava that “Yes, I would be baptized so I could become clean. So I could receive the Holy Ghost.”  I really wanted to become holy – without spot.  Just like the chrome on your bathroom faucet.  It is best to keep it clean – without spots.

Bryant off high dive

Clean Byant

I like these pictures of you.  

Just so you know, our camera rests on a support piece called the “diving board”.  

"Diving Board" for Camera

We have to always keep our images in focus.   That is what the Holy Ghost does – he keeps you in focus.

Our little speaker hooked to our computer that informs us we have taken a picture had to be a different sound from the Smith’s camera so we wouldn’t turn a page thinking we had taken a picture when we hadn’t .  Their sound when they take a picture is called “soft click” – ours is called “Space Invaders”!!  It sorta sounds like cla-da-da-da!!  The Holy Ghost speaks to us with what we need.

Digital Speaker

Now last Wednesday we had District Meeting and Elder Pava

is our DL.  He had each Companionship come up and report on

the progress of their investigators.  Elder Solorzano and Elder

Gardel have many investigators and five with baptism dates so far. 

At the end of our meeting, we all got on our knees to pray.  It was

hard and cold on the floor.  Elder Pava prayed for each investigator

individually by name – and there were many of them and he asked

in his prayer for many things.  

From your missionary brother, Elder Heflin’s emails, I see that he

also is spending much time on his knees on behalf of others.

I remember that one time when your Mom was little she would 

bless the food.      And we all had our eyes closed and your  Mom 

would say, “And bless the chicken – pause – and bless the

potatoes – pause – and bless the gravy….I looked up and noticed

she was looking around the table to see what to bless…

BUT Elder Pava took a long time - I'm sure he wasn’t looking up

at the board to see the names BUT he was earnestly praying and

thinking about each one and their needs.  When he said Amen, I

looked up and saw that he was kneeling down low – kind of sitting

back.  I knew by the Holy Ghost that he loved those investigators

and he was pleading for help - for them to be prepared for baptism

and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  

Remember, as you are about to enter that gate and start the path to

return back to Heavenly Father, remember how important it is to

pray earnestly to him and to read your scrips faithfully.

I have a story about how the Holy Ghost helped me.  

One day we were at Cementerio N1 where we take pictures of the

records.  We had a book that needed to be re-shot.  It had almost

1100 pages and we worked all day on it.  I looked over on the shelf

and noticed something sticking out of a book that had already been

taken.  I looked at what was sticking out and it did not belong in

that book. I checked on the shelf and in the “back” room trying to

find the book where those pages belonged, but no luck.

Meanwhile, we finished the re-take, and Sis Smith said that we had

3 less images (photos) than had been taken the first time.  I looked  

at that re-take book we had just finished taking, AND it was the

right book for those extra 3 pages.  They belonged in that book – so

we took pictures of those 3 pages too, and were able to put the

correct number of shots on the hard drive to send to Salt Lake.

Now those three individuals on those 3 pages may have a chance to

receive their ordinances if their family searches them out.

The Holy Ghost helped me to find something important at the right

time.  Your Grandpa and I are thankful for the constant gift we have

been given of the Holy Ghost with the promise  given in the prayer

at the Sacrament Table, that He will always be with us if we keep

the commandments.  We want to do this. We love you, Bryant.

Love, Grandpa and Grandma Gibson