Dear family and friends,
2012 had an awesome beginning with Elder Adona and I baptizing Henry! It was a magnificent start and it was a very spiritual experience to be sure. There were no massive hick-ups or last minute stunts pulled by the adversary which helped my nerves A LOT! For once I was actually calm right before the baptism started. Elder Adona and I are getting more organized with our baptisms the more we keep doing them. We had the pianist play music as Henry and Brother Faas (the member who baptized him) entered the water, (we actually called our pianist in advance this time as well as our chorister which for us is a HUGE achievement), the members showed up on time (because we told them that it was half an hour before it actually started) and we got a pretty good turn out too. Two members of the bishopric and the Elders quorum presidency showed up, we had a progressing investigator there plus a bunch of other really cool members too. The program came at the last second although in comparison to our other baptisms this was actually pretty early, probably because our ward mission leader didn't do it. Henry said that he felt like he was part of the family which he most totally is now. I only wish that I'd brought my camera to the event. Oh well, at least I have a program.
Since our ward mission leader's out of town he forgot to assign someone to teach the Gospel Principles class so Elder Adona and I took charge at the last minute and once again we kicked the new year off right by teaching about missionary work. It was a very good lesson although I still feel like it's awkward to teach about missionary work in front of investigators but it's always fine. The lesson went great considering that Elder Adona and I did NOT prepare it in advance. Most of the class is made up of recent converts. I think the South Mountain ward's had like 14 baptisms this year. Yeah no wonder the members are excited about missionary work. Now that we have a list of their schedules getting member present lessons should be a cake walk even though we still do pretty well at getting those.
We recently met a guy by the name of Obed-Omar Escamilla. He's a middle-eastern guy who's not much older than us even though he won't tell us his age because he believes that "there's a difference between the age of the mind and the age that man counts" or some other old-people jargon. Anyway this guy's golder than the golden plates. He has a baptismal date for the 21st of January, he loves meeting with us and wants to meet everyday (hee hee hee "ask and ye shall receive right?), and he soaks up everything we say. Then again almost all of our investigators since I've been here are basically a few steps away from jumping in the water. It's amazing to see how the Lord prepares people. Elder Adona and I are very grateful for the work and the success.
We love you all and hope that you're all doing fantastically.
Love,
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