Well! I'm just going to be completely honest
from the get-go, I did another awful job at keeping up my journal this
week. So I guess you can all just stop reading this letter now.
Just kidding! Keep reading! I'll come up with something to say...hmm...nothing happened this week. We just had a BAPTISM!
Yeah, lots of stuff happened! It really was such a good week! I'm going to try to get everything in this letter...
Maria Elizabeth got baptized! It was so awesome. She
had her interview on Tuesday, and our District Leader (Elder Nelson)
said she passed with flying colors! We were preparing the program for
the baptism, calling people to speak and direct the hymns and give the
opening or closing prayers, etc....we also asked someone to fill the
baptismal font for us in the morning. The bishop told Hermana Kenney and
I that the font had to be filling by 12 in the afternoon...one o'clock at the LATEST. We repeated this very clearly to the person in charge of it.......well........at 1:50pm
we get a call from the person filling the font...looks like he can't
get into the chapel...which meant that he hadn't even tried to enter the
church until almost 2pm...needless to say, we had a heart attack. (The baptism was supposed to start at five.)
Anyway, the font started filling at around 2:30,
and let me tell you, I think that if a sloth had been sitting in the
middle of the font when the water turned on, it would have made its way
out of the tub before it even got wet. THAT is how slowly the water was
coming out of the faucet. I started having a mild panic attack (it was
internal, don't worry. I kept my cool.) Then...my companion spied an
emergency hose...like...next to the fire extinguisher...as in, only to
use during EMERGENCIES...WELL IF EVER there was an emergency, it was
this! So we pulled it out, cranked the water, and let 'er rip!
And...........I still think a sloth would have beat the water. But it
was slightly better than before.
Anyway, people started coming to the chapel at 4:59pm
(Chileans take "mormon-standard-time" to a whole new level) and the
water level was just high enough to baptize a large frog. So Hermana
Kenney and I turned away from everyone else and said a prayer begging
that the water would rise high enough that she could get baptized before
this year ended...then we bravely walked into the chapel (after taking a
few pictures) and began the baptismal service.
The talks were great, the spirit was so strong, and
Maria Elizabeth was beaming! She was so excited. Her two daughters and
three granddaughters had come to see her. They are not members, and
haven't shown much interest in learning about the gospel, but as far as
we know, they have been supportive in her interest in the church. Hermana
Kenney and I did a musical number (without laughing....miracle...) We
sang "Come Thou Font" in Spanish! It was so pretty. But the whole time, I
had this little thought in the back of my head...baptismal
font...baptismal font...
Then the time came for her actual baptism. Everyone
filed into the room, and we opened the doors to see what we were working
with water-wise...and MIRACULOUSLY the water had increased to a
mid-thigh height! (That really was a miracle.) However, it was not high
enough for someone standing to be immersed entirely under the water. We
asked the bishop what we should do...should we wait an hour? Should we
start throwing buckets of water in there? But the bishop said nope,
we're just gonna baptize her right now! Elder Nelson (the one going to
baptize her,) lead her into the knee-deep water, and they both knelt
on the floor of the font. Yep! Our investigator got baptized on her
knees! But she was so cool with it. Here's this 70-year-old lady,
getting baptized on her knees in front of her nonmember daughters and a
bunch of strangers, but she was as happy as ever to do it!
And it worked! When she came out of the water, she
was smiling the biggest smile ever! We helped her change in the
bathroom, and she was so excited to get out and greet everyone, she
hardly dried herself off! Her clothes were a little soaked when she
rejoined everyone for the closing hymn and prayer. Afterwards, everyone
came up and congratulated her, and you could just tell she felt so
happy! The relief society had prepared some refreshments in the gym, and
it was just a really good baptismal service!
The next day she got confirmed, and one of her
daughters came to church to support her mom. Then we visited her in the
evening, and I'm serious, she was GLOWING. She was so happy. She also
told us that she had come straight home after her baptism and tried to
wring her clothes out into a bowl so that she could save the water from
her baptism. Then she just decided not to washer those clothes again so
that they would always have that water on them...she's so dangin'
darnin' adorable.
We've got another baptism week coming! It's with a
thirteen-year-old kid named Joaquin. Sometimes...he's a punk. But I
think he's excited to get baptized, so that's awesome! His parents are
members, but they are less active, and I'm so grateful that we found
them so that Joaquin can have the opportunity to be baptized like his
parents! We are going to work hard so that he can stay active.
Everyone! Everyone read this letter! Listen to me!!
The church is true! I know it with all my heart. Sometimes I wonder how I
could have ever known it without these experiences I've had on my
mission so far, but you know what? YOU CAN KNOW IT, even without a
mission! Because I've seen someone come to know it after a life time of
believing something completely different, and now she's seen miraculous
blessings of health and peace in her home. I continue to see these
blessings in the lives of our other investigators, and more personally
in my own life.
Want to know how you can know? Three things: Pray, Read and Go to Church! I promise your testimony will grow!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. KEEP WRITING ME LOVELY LETTERS. I LOVE THEM.
KEEP READING THE BOOK OF MORMON AND PRAYING EVERY MORNING AND EVERY NIGHT.
Con Amor, Hermana Thomas!
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