Creepy Crawlies in the Baptismal Font

Jueves:

Having a little fun on the Mish!

Today we had interviews with the mission president. I felt rather nervous. The mission president is a really great guy though. I really admire how he truly manages to care for and love more than 150 of us at a time for three years.

My companion, Elder W*, is great too. He always tells me when he feels like things aren’t quite what he thinks they should be.

After the interviews, we went with the L* family. They got baptized about 7 months ago. Not sure why they stopped going to church. Everyone in the family’s got a different reason. One person said it was a calling. Another said it was an offense. Another said they just got plain busy. Another said it was the dad. Nothing really productive came of that meeting.

Then we went with someone named M*. We’ve been teaching her for about 2 months now. She’s wanted to get baptized since December, but hasn’t really had the gumption to do it alone. Her husband is against it in attitude, but decides not to take an official stance. One son (M* is the same way, and the other son (A*) is now wanting to get baptized.

M* had always found it hard making such a monumental change without seemingly any family support (seeing as her 2 kids were in Sinaloa, 12 hours away). She decided that she would show God her faith anyway by getting baptized this Saturday. She felt super nervous, but now that the time is coming closer, she is SSOOOOO excited! Like Ether 12 6 says, the witness comes AFTER the trial of faith. She taught her son how to pray. She explained a lot of doubts her son had, and she bore a super strong testimony of prayer and scripture study.

Viernes, 13 de Enero, 2017
Wow. It’s 2017. That still amazes me. Contrary to superstition, today was quite the enjoyable day. M* decided to get baptized today. We had to go through the normal preparative process: empty the font (because the pump’s broken and no one cares enough to fix it, me included), wash it out (because no one cleans it out until it’s got it’s own little ecosystem, me included) and then get all the last minute details wrapped up (because nobody does anything until the HAVE to, me included). We had to bail out the font with buckets. The place we had to go to effectively empty the font had a black widow web all over it; we saw the spider. It looks crazy cool! It was the first time I ever saw one, and MAN is it crazy. We went to get our cameras to get a picture but when we got back, the black widow was gone! After freaking out a little (maybe a lot), we threw water on the web and got to bailing.

In cleaning out the font, it was rather uneventful. It smelled like a pond because it was one; it had green algea growing on the corners and had spiders, mosquitos, and a bunch of other little nasties running around all over it.

Baptism Day

Then came the baptism. That was something special; it always is. You can really see the difference in M*. The first day you could tell just by looking at her that she got angry really easily, and when she got angry, she took the anger seriously. She is now super happy and her faith is really growing. It’s amazing to see.

What is Baptism?
It’s immersion, immersion in a foreign world that first, seeming hostile and unformidable, comes to be the very essence of existence.
It’s death, death to our past, death to our true enemy, ourselves, and life which breaks forth in everlasting joy.
It’s pain, pain of repentance, the process of extracting every impurity and every sin which doth so easily beset us.”(Alma 7:15)
It’s birth, birth into the marvelous mercy and grace of our Savior.
It’s hope, hope that comes only on a blank page.
It’s a gift,a gift you keep unwrapping the rest of your life.

Sabado:
I bought a bike today! It’s a sweet bike! Actually, I bought it on Thursday and it finished getting fixed up today. I got to ride it for the first time today and it was SSUUPER fun! I almost beat the cars. ;)

My Speedy New Bike

After that, we went with A*. He’s M*’s son, and he wants to get ready for baptism. About 3 months ago, he was a drug addict. He left it because he lost his marriage and was gonna lose his daughter due to it. When we contacted him, he told us that he was planning on attending another church the following Sunday. He changed his mind and asked us to come and teach him. Since then he’s been asking us when he can get baptized. Our friends NEED the gospel. They want it DESPERATELY, but most of the time don’t even know WHAT it is they’re looking for, much less HOW to find it. Be a friend and reach out to them with simple invitations.

Maybe they (or you) think it’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’s like a drowning swimmer. There’s nothing uncomfortable in throwing out a lifeline. The most uncomfortable is knowing you COULD have saved a friend, but didn’t.

Domingo, 25 de Enero, 2017:
Wow. Today was something special. M* got confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She’s a powerful follower of Christ. She heard a couple of sisters were going to visit the families that didn’t come to church today, and she decided to join them. She wants to go the temple with the ward the next excursion (the 28th, I’ll get pics) and she’s helping her son get prepared for baptism.

A* wants to go on visits with us already. He keeps progressing. He’s actually fasting today for help with the Word of Wisdom. We are also fasting for him.

Speaking of help with visits, My companion and I bought a couple of new bikes. They’re SUPER fast! We’re gonna beat the cars on the highway now! No, but we ARE gonna be able to work better with the members, because now we’ll have bikes for ém to use.

Testimony:
Lastly, I know that this Church is true. Joseph Smith DID see God the Father and Christ His only begotten son. They DID restore their gospel, their continuing revelation, and their access to it all, through their servant, Joseph Smith. They DO love us. The power of Christ’s atonement DOES overcome ANYTHING, when we put ourselves to the task. God wants us to love Him, why? So we can learn to truly live. Only in loving Him can we find true happiness, true comfort, and true progress. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Homework:
Read Alma 12:28-29. Think of ways it has applied in your life. I love those two verses. If you want, post ém on the comments bar.