Just Baptisms and Stuff

Our week has just been ridiculously busy and we failed AGAIN at the BoM giveaway commitment. Maybe next week...it seems to be an every-other-week thing.

Getting ready for baptisms takes so much work!! especially in the form of phone calls, which is one of me and Sister Karlsson's least favorite things to do. But because she doesn't like doing it, I've actually gotten really used to it. And there's something satisfying about just getting everything done!

We asked Nick, one of our recent converts, to perform Blake's baptism, and he was grinning from ear to ear :):) Yay for people moving forward in the gospel!! I LOVE this!

We barely squeezed in teaching the Laws and Ordinances (church rules were recently changed so that these have to be taught before baptism) to David before his baptism. Luckily he's had the lessons a couple of other times in his life, and he's been around for years as we've taught his wife. So he already knew them pretty well.

The BoM ROCKS. We just read some of Alma 36 to some of our more skeptical investigators and it was SO POWERFUL. They didn't react much to the spirit, but it was definitely flowing. Hopefully they'll have more of a desire to read now!

We met a sweet lady who is very committed to her own faith, but has Mormon friends in AZ and is very open to talking about religion. The members in AZ have been keeping close contact with us and her, but I think it'll be a slow process. She's not interested in converting, but that's how they all start :)

We had David and Blake's baptismal interviews and they both passed! PHEW. Not that we were concerned ;) Then the elders stuck around for a game of Apples to Apples and some Pizza Hut. It was lots of fun.

The Door County Fair was this week, and we've been helping out at the church booth. It wasn't a very big attraction, haha, but our awesome members the Maddens converted pretty much all the other non-religious vendors in the building. That's what happens when the other religious booths are being jerkwads and telling people they're going to hell for selling jewelry. We make friends :) I love the Joseph Smith quote where he said something along the lines of, "And if we are going to hell, we'll kick the devils out and make it into a heaven, because wherever the Saints are gathered there is joy."

Then we had the baptism of David Shepard. Judy bore her testimony and said, "There's been a lot of arguing between us to make this day happen, but finally it's here. So I guess I won." It was super funny. And David was just GLOWING after his baptism!! SOO happy for him. Judy had a picture of the elders who taught her about 6 years ago, and that was cool to see. The work goes on!

Church was just ridiculous yesterday. The testimonies in first hour were soo cool and all about missionary work, which makes us smile :) I was glad I was sitting at the piano where the tissues are because I could NOT control myself. It was my last fast and testimony meeting, which is probably why. Annoying.

Then we did more testimonies in Relief Society and I had one of the most tender moments of my entire mission. Catrina, who I failingly fought to reactivate in GB2, is moving here to Sturgeon Bay, and she got up and bore her testimony and explained everything about why she had fallen away and why she had stayed away even though her testimony is solid...she explained the things she never would tell us before, and my heart just exploded with love for this woman!! She looked at me and something passed between us that I couldn't explain...just a lot of gratitude and understanding. A determination to change. We are going to be working very closely to finally get her 10-yr-old daughter baptized. I think that little girl knows the BoM better than I do. :S

We went to dinner with a member family on Sunday and had a great time, and also stopped at their friend's across the street, who were really nice and have been considering coming and checking out our church. DO IT!

SAM GOT SUNDAYS OFF! Finally. I am dragging him into activity before I leave. He wants it, after all. Just needs a little help.

I definitely know that I was supposed to be here this last transfer. Blake's baptism was supposed to be on Sunday, but we last minute cancelled because his girlfriend couldn't make it...which is kind of important. We'll be doing it on Tuesday, regardless of whether she can make it or not, though. But we're trying to give her a chance to be there. It's gonna be AWESOME. Yay baptisms.

Sister Neal