Words are Small

These last ten days have been some of the most beautiful days of my entire life. It was so great that when you start to talk about what was truly a sacred experience, words seem too small. At times like those I sing, but it still seems to fall short. I'll share a few of the experiences of the past weeks. To understand this, you have to know that there is a list of people from my mission that I have no idea what happened to them because they moved or other things happened. There are many times when I literally lay in bed at night and think about those people and wish that I could see their faces and know how they are doing.

One of the people on that list is a really cool girl who got baptized while living with her crazy mother. Her name is Alesca. She moved out suddenly a few weeks later and I was transferred shortly thereafter, so I never knew anything more about her. Fastforward to two sundays ago when I was sitting in priesthood thinking about a family that got baptized in the same place around the same time. I felt very strongly that I needed to call them that very day (I had one week left in Chile). I went home and got out my missionary planners and found one that had two phone numbers for them. I called both numbers - no answer. A few minutes later, the second number returned the call, but it was not the family that I was hoping to contact. Instead of apologizing and hanging up like I normally would have done, I looked through my planner trying to figure out who it might be. I realized that I must have written the number for Alesca's crazy mom in that box by accident because they were beside eachother. I quickly asked her if she could give me Alesca's number and she told me that she was living in the same city that I was! I really could not believe this chain of events! I called Alesca mere seconds later and I got to see her a couple times before I left. It was a miracle.

This past saturday I finally went to my second area. It was the closest of any of them, but I had been delaying the trip. So many people had moved away from there that I almost didn't see the point in going. When I got there I was going to go directly to our mamita's house because it was her birthday, but instead I went to the house where I lived. The missionary's still lived there and they were just leaving the house. I stopped to talk to them and they asked me my name. I said that during my mission I was Elder Peterson. They stared at eachother in disbelief and said "you're Elder Peterson!!" Let me tell you, I didn't expect that response. They then said, "guess who is getting baptized today!" I was paralyzed while dozens of faces passed through my mind. They said that Alberto and Maria and their kids were getting baptized. I was in complete shock! They had one of the most beautiful families but when I left, things started coming undone. The missionaries had seen the sheet and gone to find them again, but the family always talked about me. One hour before I had to leave for home I got to sit there and watch each of them get baptized and hear them share their testimonies. It was a miracle, and I will never forget it.