His First Baptism!
Hello Everyone!
So we did successfully have our first baptism!! It was fantastic!! It was a little weird to me how we go through so much effort and so much teaching and time to do such a simple act. Me and my comp were talking about that and how we have been teaching Esteven for I think 3 months now and how our whole purpose is to do one ordinance that takes like a minute. ha (It isn't our whole purpose but that is the best way we can bring people to Christ) But the scripture came to mind that "by small and simple means are great things brought to pass." The gospel truths and principles really are simple when you think about it! It definitely isn't easy though I will be the first to say that. But It is definitely worth it. It was so nice to finally see an investigator progress from knowing not much about Jesus Christ to being baptized as a member of the Church!! So the whole baptism story is pretty crazy... It was Thursday and we realized that we had a baptism date on Saturday, but the family hadn't given us a time to do the baptism!! So we went to visit them that night and got all the things sorted out. It was schedule for 7 pm. We also realized he hadn't picked anyone to baptize him! So we asked who he wanted and he said me!!! I was so excited and so humbled at the same time!! Of course I said yes and thank you for the opportunity!! So Saturday finally came and we started filling up the font at 4:30 because I guess it takes forever to fill it up. We turned on the water and the water heater so the water wouldn't be freezing. Then we left to do other things and visit one other person. We live by a member and we were leaving our house around 6:40 to head to the church. And she said that the font was empty and they just started filling it up!!! We kinda didn't believe her...But we ran to the church to see what was going on and sure enough the font had about a foot of water...... Our hearts dropped! I could not believe it!! And all the members were freaking out! ha Like the end of the world was about to happen! We didn't know what we did wrong, and explained that to people but it didn't really matter at that point... So we were thinking of ways of how we could make the time go faster... So we figured out that if you turn off the water heater it would fill up faster. We asked Esteven if that was alright that the water would be cold. He said yes. It was about 7:30 now and the font was filling up but it wasn't going to be done in a timely manner. So a long story short, we found a hose and hooked it up to the outside faucet and ran it through a window of the church and turned it on full blast.. Needless to say it filled up a lot faster!!! ha So the baptismal service didn't start till 830! Our curfew was at 9:00! So the talks were a little on the short side... And a note to self.... bring an extra shirt!!! haha I figured out after the baptism when we were changing that I was wearing my only long sleeve shirt I had! That is not a nice realization. Esteven was wearing my backup... So I was wet for the rest of the service ha But it was an amazing experience for me and for Esteven. Nothing can compare to the experience of hugging a newly baptized member of the church in freezing cold water, both of you wet, and just smiling. Luckily the spirit was strong so that warmed us up a bit! haha It was a great experience. I have a testimony that this work is the greatest work that can be done on the Earth. Our whole mission here is to prepare for the next life. I love the fact that I get to serve our Master for 2 years and after a whole life time. The only way to true happiness is through the Atonement. Humbling ourselves and submitting our will to our Father in Heaven. This mission has definitely not been the easiest, but the reward is far more than I can imagine. Truly serving others can bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. I love you all!
Elder Reynolds
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