Manuel got BAPTIZED!!!!

Manuel got baptized!!! Luke said it was such a special day! The Ward Mission Leader, Hector, is a recent convert and when Luke and Elder Suarez told him he had to conduct the baptism he got very nervous and had the missionaries come over to practice what he was going to say. Manuel was so excited and felt such peace, he was very emotional afterward. In fact he texted on the Elder's Quorum chat thanking everyone and telling them how much peace and joy he felt.

During the interview before the baptism they came to the question asking if they had ever committed a crime. Manuel answered yes and Luke quickly told him he just had to meet with President Barlow. (He didn't want him to expound and confess to him) After the interview Luke started thinking "Hmmm, sometimes when we say crime they have a different idea of what that is" So right before the interview Manuel said "By the way Elders, the crime is that I punched someone." Ha ha ha, not really worthy of having to meet with President Barlow, but he still met with him before his baptism.

The week leading up to the baptism was a miracle. Luke and Elder Suarez were so busy with all the zone conferences and exchanges that they really only had about 3 hours in their area this week. They had to finish the lessons, do the interview, etc. Luke didn't know how in the world it was going to work. It was kind of a loaves and fishes moment. On paper it didn't look like they had time to fit it all in, and somehow the Lord stretched their time and they were able to get Manuel prepared. What a tender mercy!

One funny thing about the baptism is that Luke forgot his suit pants and so he had to wear his more casual tan pants with his suit coat. :) ha ha ha! The Bishop came up to Luke and said "Uh Elder what's going on with this outfit?" ha ha ha!

At the baptism there wasn't anyone to play the piano and so Luke played!!!! He played "Come Follow Me" and "Our Savior's Love." So cool! He said the second one was a little rough and he ended up playing one handed, but he did it!

The rest of the week was conferences and then some major work on the transfer board. This was President Barlow's first experience with the transfer board and so he wanted a lot of help from Luke and Elder Suarez. He had different ideas that he wanted to implement. He helped Luke and Elder Suarez think differently too. He said I want strong trainers. Think of the 14 strongest missionaries and I want them to be trainers. Then he said "Think of who you'd want to train your own brother or sister." That changed Luke's thinking completely. They worked for hours and then on their "brain break" they ran to meet with Manuel. Then they ended up staying at the President's house until midnight and then had to be back to his house at 8:00am the next morning. He hardly got any sleep and didn't even get time to shave. He got on a zoom call with a bunch of missionaries and his old companion Elder Backman texted him and told him he looked rough! Tired eyes and practically a beard :) ha ha ha!

They were almost through the transfer board, which they were working on the computer, and all of a sudden the computer screen went totally blank and they lost all of their progress!!!! UGH!!!! They were all sick about it! They were calling Salt Lake to try to get help, and were trying all kinds of things to get it back. Luke piped up and said "I have a really good memory, I think I can put it back together!" Sister Barlow was in the corner praying, and everyone else was on pins and needles hoping Luke could put it all back together. So he sat down and all the work they had done came to Luke's brain. He could see in his mind how they had it set up. What a huge miracle! I guess all those years of memorizing all the basketball stats, players, etc. paid off :)

Last little funny thing....there was a new Elder that we reassigned to Resistencia. He came this week and his name is Elder Jugo. (Jugo means juice in Spanish) He got off the plane and shook hands with President and Sister Barlow and then hugged and kissed Luke and his companion on the cheek :) ha ha ha. It caught Luke off guard :) The other funny thing is they are putting him with Elder Lemon, so they make Lemon Juice as a companionship :) ha ha ha!

Great week! Only 6 more phone calls with Luke before he's HOME!!!! But who's counting???? :)