Well, it is Sunday night and we are a couple of miles from home at the Best Western. I woke up this AM at 4:30 quite warm and felt like I had a sore throat. I got up and gargled and just lay on the couch. Dad came out in a few minutes and asked it I was hot. YES! He turned the A/C down and nothing happened. This is 5AM. We tried everything we knew and nothing would happen. He brought the fan into the LR and lay on the other couch and we both tried to sleep. Finally about 7 he called Keven and reported our problem. Kevin came over and could not figure anything out and told us that with it being Sunday and Father's Day he could not do much and told us to go to a motel for the night. So we went to church, came home and packed up and here we are. I brought the computer, but forgot the mouse, so I have been using the little pad in front. Not used to it, so I quit reading your blogs because I double posted on Adrians, so erase one of those. So I decided to tell you about a very great baptism that we had instead of putting a bunch of pics in.
This story was written by Elder Whitworth, the Elder on the left who taught and baptized.
Lance Corporal Emanuel S. Sanchez, USMC, was coming home to Kansas City for a 30-day leave from active duty at Camp Pendleton, California. He had not informed his parents because he wanted to surprise them. Surprises are not uncommon in his life.
Lance Corporal Sanchez recently completed his second deployment in Iraq and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. He'd seen his share of death, destruction, and sorrow in his three years as a Marine. As a 50 mm Humvee gunner he watched the lead Humvee two vehicles ahead of him blow up when running over a roadside bomb. His cousin perished in the explosion. Later, Sanchez received shrapnel wounds and was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries received in the line of combat.
When Sanchez arrived in Kansas City and tried to contact his parents he learned they had just departed for a weeks-long vacation to Mexico and would not return before his leave ended. And he had left his house keys in his locker back in Camp Pendleton. The surprise was on him. Sanchez contacted a friend from several years ago and explained his circumstance. His friend invited him to stay with him in his rental home.
With no family around, no vehicle, no parties or picnics or reunions to attend, Sanchez thought he had thirty days to kill. To alleviate his boredom, he fired up his laptop computer and began to surf the internet. It was going to be a very long thirty days.
An internet ad popped up mentioning something about a book called "The Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ." Sanchez killed the ad. It popped up again. He glanced at it, and then killed it again. It popped up again. He killed it one more time. It popped up a fourth time.
This time Sanchez thought to himself, if this thing keeps popping up, maybe it's important enough to look at. So he clicked on the ad. He began to read a brief summary of the Book of Mormon and noticed a link allowing him to order a free copy. Not a bad idea, he thought, with thirty days to kill. He entered his information.
Less than 24 hours later, on a Saturday, Elder Whitworth and Elder Lynch, missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints received a text message informing them of someone interested in receiving a copy of The Book of Mormon. They had been trained to follow up quickly on these requests, so they drove to the address in the text message, rang the doorbell and asked for Emanuel Sanchez. When Sanchez came to the door and was greeted by Elder Whitworth and Elder Lynch, he was pleasantly surprised to meet the two cleanly-scrubbed eager-faced white-shirted men just a few years younger than he. He was also surprised to receive so quickly his copy of The Book of Mormon.
The missionaries asked if they could sit down with Sanchez and tell him more about it and the message from God they would like to share. Sanchez invited them in. During their visit the missionaries were able to teach Sanchez the First Lesson. He received it hungrily and wanted more. The missionaries were eager to provide.
The connection between Emanuel Sanchez and the missionaries was immediate. The Holy Spirit bore its witness and Emanuel felt it. He accepted the invitation to attend church the next day.
Sunday morning, Sanchez arose at his normal 6AM and eagerly prepared for church. He carefully groomed his Marine Corps haircut, shaved his very dark heavy beard, cleaned and shined his patent leather dress uniform shoes, carefully pressed and donned his Class A Dress Blue uniform, ate some breakfast and sat down to wait for his ride to church. He thumbed through his Book of Mormon, reading parts the missionaries suggested, marveling at how the words resonated with him. He was excited to to go church.
April 18, 2010, Chapel Hill Ward was crowded and noisy as usual. The people were happy, friendly and warmly welcomed the handsome stranger in the Marine Corps uniform. Although Emanual Sanchez wasn't more than 5'6" tall, he stood out in the crowd. It was obvoius to all at church that he was a proud American serviceman. Many people shook his hand, asked his name, admired how sharp he looked, and thanked him for his service to our country. Sanchez appreciated the friendliness.
But he appreciated much more the words he heard, the music, and how he felt. Gospel Principles Sunday School class impressed him with the simpleness and clarity of doctrine. The teacher's sincere testimony touched his heart. Sanchez liked these feelings.
During the next week the missionaries contacted Sanchez every day and continued to teach him at every opportunity. They felt prompted to invite Sanchez to receive baptism once he came to know the truth of what they were teaching. He immediately accepted even though he had been baptized previously as a youth.
The ward missionaries and ward mission leader took Sanchez to the Independence Visitors' Center, and once again, Sanchez felt the impressions of the Holy Spirit. It all made sense to him. He understood the Book of Mormon. He understood about God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. He understood about Christ's church and about the apostasy and restoration. He was anxious to be baptized.
He went to church the next week and appreciated the same things he did the previous week. The missionaries continued to teach and fellowship as did members of the ward.
Saturday, May 1, 2010, Emanual Silva Sanchez was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder DJ Whitworth. He was confirmed in Fast and Testimony Meeting on Sunday, May 2, 2010, by David M. Hepworth. During the meeting, he bore his testimony, which was attended by a sincere, peachful spirit. On Saturday, Brother Sanchez had expressed a desire to bear his testimony as he'd heard other people do. Sunday morning was his first chace. the missionaries also arranged for him to attend the Mission President's Fireside at the Independence Visitor's Center Sunday evening and bear his testimony.
Near the close of the day on Saturday, Brother Sanchez told the missionaries his birthday was that day. Elder Whitworth thought for a moment and questioned what he meant, knowing that his birthday was really in November. Brother Sanchez laughed and said, "It's my spiritual birthday!"
During Fast and Testimony meeting, just moments after being confirmed, Brother Sanchez's cell phone rang. He had to carry it with him at all times because he is on active dury - although on leave. He stepped into the foyer to speak with his commanding officer. There was good news and other news. Sanchez was promoted that day to Corporal and was to be deployed to Afghanistan sooner than originally scheduled. After leave, he was to report to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, instead of Camp Pendleton, Claifornia, to prepare for deployment.
Brother Sanchez was invited to meet with Bishop Norm Messner, who discussed the Aaronic Priesthood with him. Bishop Messner determined that Brother Sanchez should receive the Priesthood and be ordained to the office of Priest the next Sunday. Bishop Messner also invited Brother Sanchez to personally attend the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Kansas City Missouri Temple on Saturday, May 8, 2010. Brother Sanchez was thrilled with these opportunities. He expressed a desire to go the temple before his deployment to Afghanistan and officiate in proxy baptisms for deceased members of his family, particularily for his cousin who had been killed in the Humvee in front of him.
Missionaries daily pray to be lead to those people who are prepared to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are always prepared for the opportunity, but when it comes quickly, they are amazed at the tender mercies of the Lord to them and to the people they teach. It makes them literally jump in the air and exclaim, "Oh, how I love missionary work!"
This was written by Elder Whitworth.
This story has affected the mission in very positive ways. It has been very exciting for me because I always text the referrals within 24 hours to the missionaries and tell them to contact immediately. This time they did it. I did get a call from a missionary who found a text message on the phone when he came into the new area, that was about 4 months old. That person was no longer interested. Everyone did what they were supposed to do in this case.
We have heard more about Elder Sanchez. He did bless the sacrament the next week in church and he loved doing that. He went to North Carolina and then was able to come back for the Memorial Day weekend to see his family. He went there and told his parents that he had joined the church and they would not let him in the house. So he went to Brother Hepworth's home and stayed with he and his family for the weekend. I have heard that his parents did finally ask him to dinner and he went, but I have no idea what happened there. I will let you know of further news. I did learn that he came back again and seemed to have some health problem and that might put him out of the Marine Corps, which he would be so happy about, because he wants to go on a mission in a year. Whenever he was in town, he went out with the missionaries every single day that he could. He is so excited about the Gospel and loves working with the missionaries.
It has been a wonderful story. We were at the VC fireside when he bore his testimony that Sunday night. He had been confirmed that day in Fast meeting. Here is one who was truly prepared and ready to receive the Gospel in his life.
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