Fonts & Buckets

Dear Family
    
So to start out, this e-mail might be a little business like.  I was blessed from the Lord with a bounty of e-mails to respond to - so I will keep it all to the basics.
    
We received the transfer call this morning and it looks like I am staying here in Valiente for another transfer - which is really kind of what I expected because Elder Valdez is new to the area.  He is an awesome companion, and I can tell my Spanish is improving a lot with him.  The Dominican spanish is really unrefined and very uneducated, so my Dominican accent has been going away a little bit.  But, it's for the better, because I want to be understood when I get home as well.
    
We had a baptism on Saturday like I was saying before - but it ended up being a little bit more of a challenge than what we were expecting.  Really, the responsibility to fill up the baptismal fonts should always be the members.  But, seeing as how they don't do it, the missionaries always end up doing it.  So . . . some Elders went to fill up the font that Saturday morning, but something happened and the pump broke!  My companion, the zone leaders and I all ran over and we had to fill it up with empty trash cans and carry them in from outside - all in the middle of a huge storm!  It was pretty crazy - not gonna lie :)  After that, we ran over to the area to teach a few more lessons, then we made the return to the chapel to see Diana happy and ready to be baptized!  We waited for a while for the Branch President, but he didn't show up.  We called him and he ended up bailing on us which was a huge problem, because you can't have a baptism without a member of the bishopric.  Luckily, about 30 minutes later, we were able to get the 2nd counselor and we had the baptism.  Diana was a trooper throughout the whole thing, which was cool - but I am pretty sure that she wouldn't have left without getting baptized!
    
Right now we have some pretty  good investigators who include Ayendi, a son of a recent convert, who just moved to live with his Dad again and has a baptismal date this Saturday.  We also have a whole family!  The family is that of a man named Frank, who has been coming to church for a little while now, but we finally got to his wife Louisa now, and they all went to church and want to get married and baptized which was pretty sweet!  We also have a whole bunch of people, but I won't really talk about them too much until their progression is a little more sure.
    
I am glad to hear that all went well for Fathers Day!  Yes, I am way jealous that you all got to eat Mom's tacos, but my companion and I made Bistec (some Mexican beef recipe he has) and it was pretty delicious too!  It is good to hear that Summer has been a pretty good time so far.  Are you guys going to visit the beach this Summer?
    
Anyways, I need to write a few more e-mails, but I will get those pics sent soon!

Love, Elder McBride