Baptism Day

June 16, 2013

So, a really happy thing happened yesterday...Chen JM got baptized!!!!! YAY! It was so great! It was actually a really crazy Sunday, we had 5 investigators at church (yayaya!) and then right after church was the baptism. It was hard because sister Thomas and I were trying to take care of all our investigators and get the baptism ready all at the same time. Chen JM was just sitting on some chairs patiently waiting to be told what to do. I was taking some investigators to the kitchen to get some food, and then Sister Thomas comes in and was like, "I can't find Chen JM. I don't know where she is..." So, panicked, we searched the entire church. Couldn't find her. We called her phone a billion times. Didn't answer. We were SO worried! So we said a prayer and then a min later she walks up behind us with a juice box...she had gone to buy juice! haha (...oops. We'll have to go over that commandment again haha). So we got her into her white clothes, took some pictures, and then finally went in for the baptism. She was nervous because of her eye (she is the one who lost her eye), but we told her it would be fast and wouldn't have to be under water too long. Well...she kept not going under the water all the way haha! She had to do it 3 times! After the 2nd time she may or may not have sworn.....hahahaha! Our investigator swore (in english, I don't think anyone else heard it but me and Sister Romenello-the sister who was in this area before I got here) in the baptismal faunt! Oh my goodness I was laughing so hard. It sounds like she wasn't very prepared for baptism, but really she is amazing. She has SO much faith, it's incredible. It was so so happy :)

 On the other end of the spectrum, our investigator Cai JM dropped her baptismal goal for this coming Sunday. We were really sad about it. It's actually kind of frustrating because she has such a great testimony of prayer and the Book of Mormon, and she knows that she needs to get baptized, but for some reason she thinks that she needs more time. So, we will give her more time. She set a new goal for August 17. She is so great, I love her so much and I pray so hard for her.

We have a lot of really great investigators! We went with one of our investigators, Li JM to the dedication of a new stake center in North Taichung. She has a baptismal goal for July 27. She is 17 and so cute! Ah! I love that girl. Anyway, at the dedication they had a lot of people getting baptized that we were able to watch, and after they all got up to bare their testimonies. There was an 82 year old man that got baptized that day and he said that his life had just begun because of his baptism. It was really cool.

Being a missionary is really such a humbling experience. Complete strangers let you into their houses and into their lives. They tell you personal things about them, and you instantly love them. You get to share something that means the world to you, and that you know will change their life. You teach them the gospel according to what the Spirit directs, and then you just get to watch this person that you love so much change. You get to watch them progress, learn, and become converted. And it literally has nothing to do with you. I feel so blessed to be able to watch all of these people go through such a personal and sacred experience. And I am trying my hardest to live up to the great responsibility Heavenly Father has given me.

I absolutely LOVE being a missionary. I love my investigators. I love my companion. I love being completely exhausted at the end of the day. I love everything about it. And I know that I will only love it more and more as time goes on. I can't believe it's already been about 5 months. Weird! Time goes by so fast!

I'm trying to think of other questions you asked...I'm sad about Sister Thomas leaving, she is really great. I'm really nervous for my new companion, though I'm sure she will be really great too. The language is still really hard, but I'm thankful for all the prayers. I know that Heavenly Father is helping me so much.