ONE YEAR!!!
THE BIGGEST NEWS THAT I HAVE THIS WEEK IS THAT WE BAPTIZED AGAIN! WE
BAPTIZED P.'S DAD AND COMPLETED THEIR FAMILY!!!!! WE ARE SO
HAPPY!!!
So, Saturday was the craziest day! hahaha
We
had stake conference- our stake was divided! Yahoo! I will explain more
about this later... so because of the conference, all of the men in our
ward were in Foz do Iguaçu (2 hours away) for the priesthood session,
and we had to baptize D. (P.'s dad) in my district leaders
chapel (our stake center). It was super chaotic because of the
conference and without priesthood leaders... I have a strong mindset
about the importância of members being at the baptism and our bishop and
other auxiliaries because the new member needs to be welcomed right in
to the ward from the start. so.... knowing that the men would all be in Foz and that we would probably have a small ward turn out at his
baptism, everyone was telling me that we should wait to baptize him
until Sunday (just one day later)... I thought and prayed about it with
my companion, but we felt very strongly that he needed to be baptized as
planned on Saturday.
Our ward mission leader
was sick and couldn't come and help us and it was pouring rain all day
long, so it was just extremely chaotic.... we prayed that everything
would go as planned and that we would be able to baptize D.
without delay. I was stressed....haha but it's that kind of stress that
is associated with unshaken faith....hahhaha... I called my district
leader (Elder King- who is from Las Vegas and finishes his mission next
week) and explained the situation. He came to my rescue and reassured me
that it would all be just fine. He offered to baptize this man for me- I
normally don't let the elders baptize my converts, but with all of the
chaos of the day, and thinking about how much this elder has helped us
(he's a great friend of mine) and how he hasn't had many baptisms this
transfer, I felt like it would be wonderful to give him the
opportunity.
We got to the church- Irmã K. made yummy chocolate cake for the
baptism because this week I did not have time--- and when we got to the
church (the elder's chapel) with P. and her family- the elders
realized that we didn't have the keys to enter into the baptismal font
from the back- we could open it from the front (where we watch the
baptism and has that glass) but behind where they enter in and go down
the stairs into the font was locked!!!! I kept my cool but was panicking
inside....my companion and the elders were running around with their
heads cut off trying to call other members who might've had keys....
without any luck-- all the men were in Foz with their church keys- the
four of us (my companion and i, and the two elders) knelt down in the
gym and prayed that we could find a way to open the doors and baptize
D. that day..
Shortly after the prayer- I
received REVELATION! HAHA SERIOUSLY! I told the elder to go and change
his clothes and to help D. put on his jumpsuit as well. the
members started to show up and I had my iPod playing church music to
welcome everyone...
Bishop has met him and the Bishop and other leaders were so thrilled
that we were bold and baptized him- we followed the spirit and luckily
have their trust as well----
And members were there! it was a beautiful baptism- we even had a musical number! ;)
after the elder and D. changed their clothes, I explained to them my crazy plan. We
would put one chair into the water in the font, and one chair on the
outside of the font (the front side) and then they would stand up on the
first chair, swing their leg over the glass, and step down on the chair
in the water- then take the chairs out and baptize him- and exit the
font in the same way. The elder looked at me and smiled, laughing and
said, "man..talk about a sister who doesn't give up-" hahahahaha
Everyone
thought I was nuts-- but I told the members that this man needed to be
baptized on this day and that he was ready- when we explained to D. (hes in his mid-50s if I may....) how he would enter into the
font, he looked at me and said, "Sister- today is the day- however I
get into that font is not the problem, but I will be baptized today!" It
was soooo cute- this quiet man was so excited to be baptized in
front of his wife and his two daughters- his family who had been trying
to invite him for years!
Needless to say-
D. was baptized on Saturday- entering the baptismal font from
the front side- climbing over the glass... the best part of it all was
seeing his huge smile as he left the water.... my heart.... I sat in the
front row with my companion and his family, holding his wife's hand as
she cried watching him be baptized. As soon as he came out of the water
his wife squeezed my hand and with tears rolling down her face said,
"Sisteres, you don't understand how happy I feel today- I've been dreaming
about this day since the day I was baptized 4 years ago- we have been
inviting him for years and finally you girls came in and the Spirit you
brought touched his heart. finally, my family can be sealed in the
temple!"
I LOST IT. TEARS OF GRATITUDE- TEARS
OF HUMILITY-- I KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT ME- I am nothing. I am just a
product of great parents, family, and have been blessed by the Lord to
be a missionary at this time. He is guiding the work here- I am just
moving my feet and hearing His voice.
Yet
another family to be sealed in the temple....and P. was able to
see her dad's baptism before heading back to serve her own mission in Peru.....so special.
What a great way to
celebrate Thanksgiving! I missed all of you so much and felt so much
gratitude to know that you are all taken care of- that Heavenly Father
is aware of each of us and gave His Son for each of us so that we could
have beautiful experiences to learn and grow like I had this week.
Que coisa mais linda! Eu amo ser uma missionária!
We had our stake conference yesterday and J. (our
first baptism here) received the Melchizedek Priesthood and was ordained
an elder already!!! Less than one month after his baptism!!!!!! Presidente Pereira was there and was so happy to greet J. and to
congratulate him! He told J. that when J. opens his mission
call, he will be there!! Sooooo cool!
Our stake was
divided by Elder Mark Bassett of the 70 and Elder Toledo of the 70! Now
we have our stake- Estaca Cascavel and Estaca Foz do Iguaçu! so exciting
to see so much growth here!
So great!
Tomorrow,
we will all travel for 7-9 hours on a bus with a bunch of missionaries
to get to Londrina- we will have a mission tour conference with Elder Aidukaitis of the 70- he will do a training with the missionaries in our
mission! We are excited!!!
And Sister Pereira and Presidente came to do our interviews here in Cascavel on friday afternoon and told us that Christmas (December 19th)
ALL OF THE MISSIONARIES IN OUR MISSION WILL HAVE A CHRISTMAS
CONFERENCE-- EVERYONE TOGETHER- THIS NEVER EVER HAPPENS!!!!!!!!! I WILL
SEE ALL OF MY FRIENDS!!! YAY!
GIANT GUINEA PIGS.....NATURAL WILDLIFE HAHAHAHA
THESE ANIMALS LIVE IN AND OUT OF THE WATER AT THIS LAKE-- (TO SHOW TO THE LITTLE KIDS)HEHEHE
No comments:
Post a Comment