Baptisms!

Ok, so from the title, you can tell we had a lot of baptisms this week! Our zone had 5 people get baptized. That was super awesome. We had three baptismal services in the same building one right after the other. Ours kicked it off at 4 o'clock. So our week has been filled with just getting everything ready for all the baptisms. One thing we had to do was practice each of our songs. I sang at all three baptisms so we had to practice three different songs! Sister W played the piano for each of those as well. So we practiced everyday and we taught our 2 baptism women everyday. They were so cute and so excited for their baptism. Unfortunately one of the women's husbands is extremely shy and didn't come to the baptism :( But she said she is working on him and he really likes what she is teaching him. So that is awesome.

So let me back up a little bit. We have had some good lessons throughout the week but mostly we focused on our 2 women. We visited our usuals that we have set appointments for, such as the recent converts and we also visited our older investigator. She decided this week that she wants to get baptized on the weekend before Thanksgiving. We had tried to get her to commit to the date of September 20th but she said she is old and needs to get used to this idea and stuff. I am sure I have talked about this woman before; her daughter is already a member and is super supportive and she got her to come to a relief society activity this week. She came down from her home and went with her. It was a really good activity. They had everyone bring something made from lemons and the theme was "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade." There were so many yummy foods and deserts. But there were also some really good talks about how God knows what is going to happen and sometimes the biggest blessings come from crazy trials that you don't know how they are going to work out, but they always do. It was really good. Plus our 2 women who are getting baptised and our older investigator all got to get to know each other and to meet more members in the ward as well. It was fun!

We also go and read the Book of Mormon with the older woman at least once a week as well. She seems like she is understanding it and she says that when she goes to church with her daughter, it just feels right, unlike how she felt at the Catholic church. We then taught her on Saturday before the baptisms. She expressed that she had a fear of water and she was starting to have second thoughts and get discouraged. She was starting to wonder if she was doing the right thing. Apparently she had never seen a baptism before and hadn't been able to go to her daughters so we convinced her to come to the baptism on Saturday so she could feel the spirit and also see what a baptism was really like so she wouldn't be nervous about it. So her daughter supported her and said they would stay a little longer that day so she could come with her.

So after our lesson we went to the church and set up the chairs and filled the font. Our 2 baptisms showed up and we helped them get all changed. haha. Apparently we grabbed one baptism outfit that fit one of the ladies, but apparently it was a men's one. It looked like the kind of jumpsuit that the person baptizing them would wear... So it had long sleeves, a collar, a belt thing, and a chest pocket.. haha oops. They were taking forever to change so I finally went in there to see what was taking so long and they were just huddled behind the door. When I asked what they were doing they said they were NOT going out there looking like that! haha they were so embarrassed. It was hilarious. The baptism went really well though! We made sure a ton of people had a part in the program so they HAD to come because it is the worst when no one comes to support them. The talks were all really good and our musical number went well too. We sang "Come Unto Christ" (Hermana J, Hermana G, and I). Then they got baptized and were so excited. They said it was an amazing feeling and were super happy. It was really awesome. We also invited another guy that didn't come to the last baptism we invited him to. He came but we didn't see him until it had started so we didn't get to talk to him beforehand. It was really funny because after the talks and stuff he would clap. haha but he didn't really care. He just sat there all chill and stuff. It was funny. So ya! The baptism was awesome!

Then we had the Spanish baptism. It went really good too. It was cool because Hermana J's parents came down for her last baptism! (she goes home tomorrow). It was cool to meet them and have them there. They brought down a couple of her converts from another area too so they could be there. It was like a little reunion. The three of us sang the same song, only in Spanish, for that baptism as well. It went really well. Hermana G wants me to sing it with her in sacrament for the Spanish branch now. But ya I think the Spanish one was even better than the English one! haha. Their baptism was really good too, except I couldn't understand a word :) haha.

After that baptism, the Elders had a baptism as well. So Elder L, Elder B, and I all sang "Nearer my God To Thee". That one went ok. I didn't do so well on my solo, apparently I got nervous, but it was fine. So ya that day was just full of baptisms and singing! It was really good though.

Also church was really good on Sunday! All the talks were awesome and the lessons were all really good too. It was a really uplifting day for investigators I'm sure. Also our 2 new converts got confirmed! They were shy and nervous but they were so cute. They are just so awesome. Also, our older investigator has been nervous to come to our ward because she wanted her daughter to come with her. So she usually goes to church with her daughter. We were able to convince her to come to our ward so that she could see our new converts get confirmed. She came to church and she really enjoyed it and she decided that she wants to get baptized on September 20th! She realized that she wanted both of us to be there and since Sister W goes home on the 23rd, she decided that is what she wanted to do! I guess she had been praying about it since the relief society activity and after the baptism, it helped her feel a lot better, so then she prayed about it and decided that's what she wanted to do! wahoo! We are really excited for her. So yes! It was a super successful weekend :)

Also we had transfer calls. Sister W and I get to stay together! Woo! We actually both got called to be sister training leaders. So we interested to see what is going to happen this transfer! We only had one STL before and now we are both STL's so we will see what happens. We also heard that we might be acquiring the singles ward to our area as well. If that really does happen, then our area will be MASSIVE because it covers the whole zone. haha so we are excited to see what happens! Also, it was sad because we had to say goodbye to Hermana J. That was sad. I loved her guts. We clicked really fast so I'm sad I only got to live with her for one transfer. Anyway it has been a great week! It is such a joy to help others come closer to Christ and to make promises and covenants. What a blessing to be a missionary at this time! It has been such a testimony builder to me. I know the church is true!