Keidy Papantla, Veracruz

Heyyy! How are you? Im Keidy,  I hope you are well, I wrote something for you, I hope you can feel my love through this letter that is in the following document, I had to use a translator haha because I'm still improving my english! I hope you like it very much, I love you with all my heart.

oh! and I also leave some pictures of those moments.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell.

Hi, it's me, Keidy.

I will start by telling you a little about myself, I live in Mexico, in the beautiful state of Veracruz and in a town called Papantla, which I hope you can visit someday! I am 18 years old, recently it was my birthday on November 19th, it was a very special day for me and I had never waited so much for a birthday as I was waiting for this one, but I will tell you why. 

There are endless things that I like to do, and I also like to learn several things, I love to dance, I love music, I consider myself a little good at singing and I play the ukulele, I would like to learn to play the piano, but I find it a little complicated, when I was younger I was very interested in painting or drawing and I tried drawing but I am not very good at it, I got a little discouraged so I decided not to try painting, until now I was encouraged to do it and I realized that I am very good, I love painting books of Mormon!

I live with my mom and I have two siblings, Pedro and Kenia, Ialso have two pets, two dogs, Africa and Sky.

Since you know me a little more, I want to tell you how my conversion and my change have been since I came to know the gospel. 

My family belongs to another religion which is Catholicism, I also belonged to it before knowing the restored gospel, but the truth is that we were never very active in the church, we attended from time to time but I almost never felt at ease or not completely satisfied spiritually. In spite of that in our home and from a very young age we have always been taught to love God above all things, to have faith and trust, to seek the Lord and always be thankful, so I have never had a problem in loving my heavenly father and knowing that he loves me, I consider that he and I have always had a very special relationship even when I am wrong. 

When I was 14 years old I joined with my brother a choir in the church I belonged to, and I found it very nice because it was the way I could express my devotion to the Lord, through songs, plus there were more young people my age who soon became my friends, I was giving that service in the church for about a year and a half, but then some problems arose with some people belonging to the group and the atmosphere began to be very unpleasant and as we no longer felt good we decided to leave.

I met the church of Jesus Christ in September of last year, the missionaries found me through Facebook, we were just coming out of the pandemic, it seems incredible to me how the Lord works in every thing and circumstance so that his perfect plan is carried out in each one of the people, the gospel of Jesus Christ came to my life when I least expected it, but when I needed it the most. The first lesson I heard from the missionaries was Plan of Salvation; I love with all my heart Plan of Salvation because it always gives me hope and helped me to find the purpose of life. I became friends with all the missionaries!

I took many more lessons during that month, and they set a date for me to be baptized, to which I said yes, I was excited, I already felt it in my heart and I had asked the father if everything they taught me was true, and I got a testimony of it. When he explained to me about the baptism I could feel that it was something very special and I longed for it with all my heart, the only thing I had to do was to have the desire to make this covenant and ask my parents so that they could give me the consent and thus perform the ordinance, then I had committed myself with the missionaries to talk with my mom to be able to reach a decision, my mom has always been very good and has always given us the opportunity to choose and make our own decisions, she let me listen to the missionaries and attend activities in the chapel, so in my mind it was easy to hear her give me a positive answer, until the day came to talk to her, it was one night and we were sitting at the dining room table, I told her a little about what I had been taught, and I said: "mom, I want to be baptized" but she said no, in a very serious tone, and I asked her why, to which she replied that she was still small to know what she wanted and that this was a very important decision, since with God you do not play, so she ended up saying: "until you are 18 years old you can make that decision, and if by then you still want to do it, go ahead". I must confess that I was a little upset because I could not understand why she had not given me permission if it was nothing wrong, my eyes filled with tears and I was a little disappointed, I was sad for a week and I had to tell the missionaries that the baptism was not going to happen, they were also very discouraged, but they always reminded me that I should pray to feel better and find an answer to that decision that my mother had made, and so I did, I prayed to the father, and later I understood that she did not do it because she did not love me, but on the contrary she was afraid that I could make a mistake and that I would put my salvation at risk, I understood that I cannot contradict the person that God has called to be my earthly parents and that I should honor them and love them since after the Lord there will not be people who love me as much and want the best for me as they do. 

Days passed, weeks, months, a year, and I kept attending church, even though I didn't have the permission to be baptized I never thought of stopping attending, being in the chapel and with the members became my safe place, being there I can always find a refuge and a lot of peace, I had always longed to find a place where I could be myself and not what others expected. I stopped doing a lot of things I used to do to be liked by people in the world, I always wanted to fit in but I never found my place out there, now I understand why. 

This year that I have spent has been very good, but it has also had not so good days, many ups and downs, adversities, special moments. My friend Teresa was baptized! It fills me with so much joy that she can live the gospel, she has had a very difficult life and now she has found a little peace and has been able to feel the love of the savior. Also in October I had the opportunity to attend the temple, it was so beautiful, I could not go inside, but just being outside I felt an immense calm, even just seeing it for the first time I experienced an inexplicable feeling, a tingling in the stomach that felt strange, but that filled me with happiness. It was a great blessing to be able to attend the temple without being a member. Now that I am a member I know it will be even better and I am very excited to be able to perform vicarious baptisms for my family! 

My birthday arrived, it was recently as I told you at the beginning, on November 17th we met! Elder Mitchell, his partner, Dani, Arturo and my friend Teresa! To have dinner and celebrate my birthday, since the very day I would be at the Jas convention, and so it was. 

I had the opportunity to attend my first Jas convention, I was very blessed to be able to go, since I was about to stay out because I was not yet 18 years old, but I know that the Lord wanted me to live that experience, and I am very grateful, it was very spiritual, I know that the brothers and leaders organized this activity with much love for each one of us, and it helped me to strengthen my testimony, I met new people and made new eternal friends. The last day that we were there was Sunday, we were 200 jas in the same sacramental hall taking the holy supper, Elder Reynoso was there, as well as Elder Montoya, they shared very beautiful and important messages, Elder Montoya addressed to all the young people to remember that the greatest tithe that they can give to the Lord is their time, I also shared my testimony and when I was standing there speaking I felt the spirit very much, Elder Montoya asked my name, and during his final speech he mentioned it, I felt very special since he is an authority of the Lord, and now he knows who I am and he knows of my love for the gospel. It is an experience that I will carry in my heart forever, many young people came up to me to thank me and congratulate me for my testimony, some said they felt inspired and that it helped them to strengthen theirs, what a great blessing! To be able to inspire more young people to love the Lord and to be able to try a little harder. 

And finally came the day I had waited so long, my baptism, it was a very long week in which I felt nervous, I felt excited, to prepare my baptismal program and invite the people I wanted to be that day was something very special; the very day we had some problems with the baptismal font, there was no water, and I was a little sad because I thought I could not be baptized that day, but we found a solution, and that is that another ward also had a baptism! So we held mine in the stake. It was incredible the amount of people that attended, but above all I was very happy because my family could be there! Supporting me on such a special and important day for me, my little brother was dressed as Sunday, and I felt very grateful because he also wanted to make it special. Okay, I will talk about something that not many people know, and that is my baptismal experience, since the baptism started I felt very excited, so much that I was jumping because of how happy I felt. When I was at the font and while Elder Mitchell said the ordinance a flashback came to my mind with all the moments that I had spent since I knew the gospel, it was strange and incredible, it was like a fast movie in my head, it made me feel nostalgic because I had been preparing myself too much and trying hard to be worthy of the covenant; When Elder Mitchell said Amen, I could feel as if someone had put his hand on my shoulder and I just said thank you, and I immersed myself in the baptismal waters, when I came out I felt very happy, but most of all with a lot of peace, lighter, it is an almost inexplicable feeling. It was definitely the best of birthday gifts, I know that the Lord prepared it for me, I could never be more grateful.
I received the gift of the Holy Spirit, it was incredible, it felt a little hot when they had their hands on my head, but when it was over I was instantly filled with an energy that I can't describe in words. I am so happy to now have a companion at all times, who guides me on the right path and helps me to make the best decisions. 

I am now officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, belonging to the Xanath neighborhood, I love my neighborhood and I love the people that make it up, I am so grateful to my heavenly father for choosing me, I am so blessed to exist in these last days to be able to help in his work, to belong to the only true church, to know the gospel of love and above all to know my heavenly father and my older brother, who died so that I could have life. I love the gospel, I love my creator and his perfect son, I love the blessings that the Lord gives us because he loves us, I love being able to live today and to experience joy, I love knowing that I can have an eternal family and I have hope that someday I will be able to meet again with my Heavenly Father. Faith moves mountains, now I carry a great responsibility on my shoulders, and that is to be able to gather the lost sheep of the Lord, to love people, to give happiness and be of service to those who need me, I know that I can never be perfect in this earthly life, but I made a promise to the Lord to strive every day and to become like Him. I am excited for everything that is coming, I will continue to progress to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ, I hope to serve in a full time mission, nothing would make me happier than to bring joy to people and change lives and hearts with the gospel of the Lord. And if it is in the Lord's plan that I can serve Him, I will do it with the best spirit. 

I am so grateful for the gift you were able to send Elder Mitchell for me, it is perfect! Now I have scriptures to take to the mission. 

Thank you so much for the work you have done as parents, for your wonderful son and for the support you give him so he can be serving in this mission, I am very grateful to our heavenly father for giving you the task of being his earthly parents, for the love you have for him, he talks to me a lot about you, and I know how much you love him. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have such an incredible friend like him, so full of light, love and grace. He is one of the people who inspire me to be better, to strive but most of all to love people, I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is a great example of dedication to the Lord's work. I love him immensely and now that he is no longer here I will miss him very much.

I am very happy to be able to write this, I do it with all my love, I say goodbye hoping that the Lord bless you at all times and take care of you so that you enjoy good health and can always feel his love. 

I love you very much, I send you a hug.

Pd. Say hello to Sprite!

And I would also like to hear from you so if you respond to this letter that would be great! 

With lots of love. Keidy