Finally a Baptism!

This week flew by but it was good and we finally got a baptism. We had the opportunity to do exchanges with my district leader which was good and we found and taught some good people. On wednesday we found this old lady named Nancy who is great. She seems like a great woman that is excited to listen and learn. She did tell us how when she was 15 she had a vision. She had seen a giant brain that talked to her and told her many things about God. This got me thinking a little. She defiantely isnt the only person here who talks about having visions or dreams so its not too out of the normal, although a giant brain is new to me. We started to talk afterwards and i came to three conclusions. One, is that there is some crazy drugs in the water here. Two, is satan is known to appear great at times and teach twisted truths. If someone sees a vision they immediately think it is of god and Satan uses that to his advantage. We need to make sure that everything is absolute truths from God. The third is that anybody can recive a vision or see things and it can be from God. Going along with that story later that day we were clapping a house and a completely wasted man started to yell at us in broken english to come over to him. Before the woman could come to the door he had come over to us and kept her from leaving which made her stay inside. I did learn a couple things. First, he is one of the only billionaires in argentina and obama gave him and his wife a watch for that. Second is that he wants to have a kid in Miami so it can speak two languages. Never would have guessed he was so rich with a ciggarette in one hand and a box of wine in the other... the good news is saturday we had a great baptism that turned out different then i expected but we got her dunked which was good. Her name is Anna Maria and she is one of the sweetest old woman i know. She is mother of none but aunt to all. Everytime we met her she made me think of my two grandmothers that i still have living. Very special women with power to influence many people. She loves the church and loves feeling so loved by everyone. The beautiful thing is that that is our church. Our church is to strengthen one another so that we can as a group reach our goal to live in heaven with eachother and God. What would heaven be if we were alone? Very rarely in life can we find true happiness that solely involves ourselves. At least for me, true happiness comes at times and occasions that dont solely involve me. Life you always say dad, pleasure is much different than happiness. Pleasure is a lonely feeling of short term contentment that is followed by more loneliness. Happiness on the other hand is a feeling to be shared that brings true joy. Most always it is followed by a smile which spreads like wildfire to whoever is around you. Just this morning I was talking with the lady who manages our apartment. Many people here think that we in the states are a very cold hearted people that mind our own business. Sad to say but it is true for the most part, but it is true all around the world. Whats different is us. We ourselves, member of the church or not, are the ones that make differences. Every word we say or every action we do can change ours and someone elses life forever. The question is will it be for the better or will we tear people down. We'll pass people in the street with our heads down focusing on our own problems or will we look up with a smile on our face greeting people as we walk by. Every single one of us has the same goal whether we know it or not, and every single one of us has our own challenges, and every single one of us has the duty to help one another. Not one of us can reach heaven without helping others reach heaven. After all, what would heaven be without our friends and family. Sorry for the rambling but i was thinking about this topic alot this week. Love, Elder Martino