A Baptism...Out of Our Area...Is Still a Baptism!

On Saturday, we ran into our investigator who had just moved a couple of weeks ago.  She informed us that she had already made contact with the missionaries there and is preparing to be baptized in the VERY near future.  Yay! :)  That made us so happy.

Miracle Baptism!

So this week, we had a baptism!   We had been working with an investigator for quite some time (since before I got out here!).  He did not want to be baptized until he was in college (a good year and a half away) and no matter what we did or sad, he would not change his mind.

Then, our district leader suggested we let him interview him The interview lasted over an hour, and he felt the Spirit and decided he wanted to be baptized   :D :D :D yay!

On Sunday, he texted us and told us he was too tired to go to church.  We told him that if he wanted to be baptized that day, he'd have to.   So he agreed willingly without much persistence on our part.  He came to church, all went smoothly. We saw him right before he left , and he's still excited and ready for his baptism at 5:45 so we can start at 6 to be done in time for Seminary Graduation at 7 --- we were on a really tight schedule.

So we go about doing missionary things for the rest of the afternoon.  We arrive back at the church at 5:30..  5:45 rolls around and people are showing up for the baptism.  Everything's great until a member, who was supposed to pick up our baptismal candidate, shows up. Our baptismal candidate is not with him.  The member told us he went to his house, but he was not answering the door or his phone.  We try to get a hold of him, but no luck.

So, we went with the member  to the  house at around 5:55 and start ringing the doorbell - a lot.  Nobody is answering. We kept thinking about the lesson we had had during zone meeting the day before: that if things aren't working out the way they should we have got to "do something about it" and make the miracle happen.

Long story short, we found out his door was unlocked, we found one of his neighbor friends, and his friend walked inside his house to his bedroom and woke him up - he had just been taking a nap.   He came outside still rubbing his eyes, saw us, grabbed his stuff for the baptism, then we all went back to the church arriving at about 6:25.  He quickly changed into his clothes, the baptism started at 6:35, it was over right at 7, and as soon as it was over everyone left to go to seminary graduation.  I was so tired by the end of that!

But, we had a baptism!!!! :)   It was truly a miracle, and - as do all miracles - it required a lot of effort and trust in God on our part.. There was a point where it just seemed like no matter what we did, we ran into a brick wall, but we kept trying, trusting that truly God wanted our investigator to receive the blessings of baptism. We followed the Spirit - and we saw the blessings!

It was truly a great week!

A Wedding and Two Baptisms! I Love Being a Missionary!

A favorite couple of ours got married on Friday!   :)

The wedding ceremony was beautiful!  We had a lot of help from some wonderful members who have developed a strong friendship with the couple over the last few weeks.  They helped us enormously to plan and put together the perfect wedding.  A member from the Spanish Ward made the cake.  The groom bought the flowers and we, with some help from a ward member, made the bouquet.

 

Then, on Sunday, the bride got baptized.  Everything went smoothly.  It was a wonderful baptism and the spirit was so strong.  I am so grateful I had the privilege to be there.  The groom bore his testimony in sacrament meeting.

 

On top of all that, we had another baptism in the Spanish Ward.  The son of a member was baptized.  

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know all of these absolutely amazing people!  They are incredible.  I love them soooooooooooo much!  It was truly one of the best weekends of my entire life.

 

We could not have done it without all the help we received.  The members truly played their part very well.  They took the "new bride"  under their wing and made her feel worth a million bucks.  The timing of everything was perfect.  In reality, we as missionaries did very little and that's how it should be. :)

 

I love being a missionary!  :D

 

Among other events this week:

• General Conference this weekend!  So stoked!
• I got proposed to --- long story, super awkward
• I got to watch the Women's Conference  :)
• One of the young members decided to make a service club and went around the neighborhood asking people if they needed help with anything.  One lady accepted their offer to cut the grass.  They didn't know how to use a lawnmower so they used scissors!  hahaha it was pretty funny!

Anyway, as you can tell, it's been a fantastic week!  Crazy busy, but super great!

 

I've learned a lot.  We saw a lot of miracles in preparation for these two miracles.  I'm grateful to have played just a small role in them.  I think everyone should serve a mission.  It's more fun than going to Disneyland!

Baptism!

We had a miracle happen this week.  We had an area goal of two baptisms for the month of March.  We have one that has been planned from the end of April, and we were really struggling to get the second one.  A member in our area has child who had not yet been baptized, due to not having permission from the other parent..  We and the child's "member" parent fasted so the other parent would give permission for the baptism.  Then on Sunday, we were told the permission paper had been signed and the child is going to be baptized in the very near future!!! :)  I'm so excited!

Two Birthday Celebrations:), and Companion Exchange:(

One evening, as we excitedly were planning out my birthday, we got a call from the zone leaders saying that one of my old companions had gone home for medical reasons and one of my current companions would be taking her place :( So she left early on the morning of my birthday for her new area.  It was a big bummer.  I have never been so bummed over a companion exchange.  Before she left, we ate a delicious strawberry cake that had been given to us by our friends at the Methodist church food kitchen and opened presents.

On Sunday, we celebrated my birthday again.  We made fudge and brought it to church.  We had a baptism!!!!!!! :D   it was great :D  After stake conference, we went to a member's house to eat my choice of dinner - mole and rice.  She made me a tres leches cake with pink and white frosting.  She's the best!  Another member also made me a dinner (double fed last night!) of pork chops and mac and cheese.  Yum! :D

God Answers Prayer!

For the month of December, we had a goal of baptizing two people.  We had a handful of super promising people with baptismal dates scheduled for this month.  We felt like we had done everything to help them out.  As we looked back on our efforts, we felt like we held nothing back.  One by one, everyone fell through.  As the last week of December came, we had only one baptism.

So Sunday, we were in our last ward of the day, and we were feeling really bad that it was nearing the end of the month, we had tried our absolute hardest, we had fasted and prayed so hard and so diligently to hit our goal, but due to things honestly out of our control, we only had one baptism.  It was super frustrating.  We went into an empty room and prayed.  Then we went on with the rest of our Sunday meetings.

After church, a family in our ward invited us to attend the baptism of their daughter.  We have been working with their family a lot lately and had even had some missionary discussions with the young daughter to prepare her for baptism at the request of her parents.  It was at the same time as the convert baptisms of the other missionaries.  We got there, and the family immediately invited us to take pictures with them and we even had a small role in the program providing the music.  During the baptismal service, both my companion and I realized that although this baptism wouldn't count as a "missionary baptism", we had still taken part in it.  We taught her all the missionary lessons and now we were here with the other missionaries to watch her take that big step in her life.  The family even counts us as their missionaries.

It was a very sweet, simple moment to realize that God was aware of our situation and our prayers had been answered - in His way.  We had two baptisms in our area - we hit our goal - even though we're the only ones who know it.

Baptism!

This week was seriously the longest week ever!  I can't believe Christmas was just five days ago....so much has happened in such a short period of time.

 

First of all, we had a baptism yesterday!  This week, we found a young boy who had been coming to church with his family (all are members) who had not been baptized yet.  So we invited him to be baptized on Tuesday, taught him all the lessons from Wednesday to Saturday, and then he was baptized yesterday.  He is absolutely adorable!

Meeting a Zone Goal!

So, in a kind of a spur of the moment, surprising, and miraculous way we had a - wait for it - BAPTISM!!!!! on Saturday :D :D :D

So, it's pretty cool the timing of all of this.  The mission, for the month of November, had a goal of baptising 110 people - more than we have baptized in a month in a very long time!  Our zone had a goal of 20 people this month. 

That's where this story comes in:  Our baptism was a young boy.  He didn't have a date set, but he had been learning as we were teaching another individual in his family.  Last weekend, we were leaving the house after a lesson.  We weren't even talking about baptism when he all of a sudden said, "Hey! I want to get baptized!  When can I get baptized?"  We then set a date for Sunday (the 1st of December). It was pretty cool because he had the desire himself.

We were super excited and so then we informed our district leader.  At this time, our zone had 19 baptisms for this month.  So, he said we should try to move it to Saturday (the 30th of November) so we could hit our goal. We were a little apprehensive about it because his family was supposed to go to out of town on Saturday so they could be back by Sunday.  However, we stopped by on Monday evening, and the first thing they said was they had bad news: instead travelling on Saturday, they would be going on Sunday.  We just smiled and said, No problem!  We'll do the baptism on Saturday! 

So, long story short, he was baptized in November, our zone hit its goal of 20, and our mission baptized 113 people! :D :D :D  It is amazing!  The timing was absolutely perfect and miraculous!

There Is No Other Way!

In District and Zone Meetings this week, we learned about the importance of the basic principles of the gospel.  We can never stop learning about the first principles: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.  The more I learn about them, the more I realize the importance of missionary work. If we don't do these things, we cannot reach our highest potential.  Missionary work is so important because it provides a way for people to return to live with Heavenly Father.  There is no other way.

A True Invitation to Learn

The Prophets and Apostles of the Lord have taught the need for missionary work throughout the whole world. The importance of the participation by all members, both missionaries and members. We are to invite all to participate in the great work of Salvation, as well as invite others to partake of the greatness of Christ's Atonement. Through Faith in His name, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. It is not about pushing people to the truth, forcing people to listen, but truly inviting everyone to come and learn. As well as taking every opportunity to share why the gospel is needed for them in their lives."

I Hope You Speak Spanish!

Yesterday, we stopped by to visit a family we have been working with for quite some time.  I spent a little too much time telling this story in the letter to the President, so I don't have very much time to write about it.  I could send you what I wrote to him.  The only problem is that it's in Spanish.  Either way, here it is:

También, hemos trabajado con una familia parte miembro. Ya están asistiendo a la iglesia regularmente. Sin embargo, el hermano todavía no ha aceptado una fecha bautismal. Pero, ayer, pasamos por su casa. Estaban arreglando una televisión grande y nueva. Lo primero que nos dijeron cuando entramos por la puerta fue, "Ahorita estamos listos para la próxima conferencia!" Nos dijeron que vieron a la conferencia general en la casa de unos amigos y habían asistido a un servicio bautismal de los élderes en nuestra zona. Le preguntamos si había pensado más en el bautismo. Estaba en camino fuera de la casa para comprar algo para la TV, pero empezó a sonreir y dijo, "Pos, ya me voy, pero quiero fijar una fecha!" Nos quedamos un poquito más en su casa hablando con su esposa. Nos dijo que él ya sabe quien quiere que lo bautice. Nos hizo re, re, re feliz! No hemos tenido que hacer mucho. Todo este milagro ha sido a causa de los miembros. Pero, estoy emocionada que podemos verlo!

I thought for sure I was being transferred, so the entire time, I was thinking, "This is fantastic, but I'm leaving." 

Planking, Part 2

We had a former investigator who we have not been able to contact text us asking if he could still get baptized this Sunday.  Because we only taught him twice and he has yet to attend church, we told him no, but we'd be happy to set another baptism date with him!  I have never seen anyone so willing to do what we asked!  We're excited to start working with him again.  He's sooo funny!  He's the one who I mentioned asked if baptism was like planking under water.

Another Baptism!

This week we had another baptism!!!!!! :D It was such a sweet experience.  After the baptism, the stake was doing a fireside for the youth and our recent baptismal candidates stayed for it.  We stayed for a bit to help the youth pass off Scripture Mastery.  Right before we left, the sister that was baptized gave us a big hug and told us thanks for changing her life.  That made me so happy.  I can't describe it in words.

Baptismo!

This week, our absolutely wonderful investigator was baptized!!!!!  We have honestly had the best time teaching her!  It's been so much fun! We were talking last night about the very first day we met her and her sister, who is also scheduled to be baptized.  It was the week the mini missionaries were here and we were contacting a former investigator when she yelled from across the street: "Hey! Are y'all from the church?"  We went over to talk with her.  Little did we know, just 6 weeks later, she'd be baptized!!! We are so happy for her!

 

The baptism was wonderful.  The Spirit was very strong.  She came out smiling and happy and gave us a big hug! :) This was our area's first baptism in a year! 

 

I think the experience teaching her has taught me a lot about faith.  While teaching her, we grew to love her family so much and we were willing to do anything to help her get to baptism because we know it's an important step for salvation.  However, there were several times when we had to rely a lot on faith because as we prayed about how to best help her, the answers we received were completely contrary to how we normally would have proceeded in her teaching.  We had to have a lot of faith and trust in the answers we received through prayer and through our leaders to get her to baptism.  It was well worth it.  The Spirit at her baptism was incredibly strong!

Was I Baptized Like Jesus?

We visited the family I told you about last week (the one where we told stories to the kids).  We taught them about baptism.  We read in Matthew 3 the account of Jesus being baptized.  The son, after hearing the story, asked his mom if he was baptized like Jesus was.  She said yes.  Then he asked, "with water?"  This provided an excellent opportunity for us to teach what it means to be baptized by immersion and why Christ was baptized in that manner.  They didn't accept a baptismal date, but we're going to teach them more.  We're super excited!

Baptism!

So, good news of the week: WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!!!

This is the new area's first and the first investigator I ever started teaching!  We began teaching his part-member family the first day I was in the field.  He told us straight away that he would never come to our church because he had been to other Christian churches and he wasn't satisfied.  Well, our second visit, we got him to read the Book of Mormon, and he knew a member of our branch at work (who really deserves the credit), and the rest is history!  

Yesterday, he was baptized, and I am so grateful to have had just a little part in it!  Both my companion's and my favorite part was right after he was dunked, he looked at his two little kids (ages 5 and 3) through the glass and just smiled at them, letting them know he was truly happy with his decision.  Next week, he is getting confirmed.  But, really, his baptism was made possible entirely because of God and his member friend.  Moral of the story:  MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK DOES WORK!  And it's the best (and sometimes the ONLY) way missionary work is possible!

Three Baptisms!

We have had three baptisms in our little branch this past week.  They are people who my companion worked with before I came out and we were moved to our new area.  I am officially the branch pianist, so we were at the baptisms.  There was this one little eight year-old boy who got baptized yesterday.  To me, he is a mixture of Brian (my little brother) and the kid from "Up.".  He looks pretty much exactly like Brian.