Baptized!!!

Duh duh duh da!!! Ladies and gentleman, Mary has been baptized!! Woohooo! Cue the kazoos and the trumpets. One more wonderful amazing soul has found the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Ah seriously guys I'm so happy. :) It was incredibly stressful getting the baptism planned and getting down there (we have a limited number of miles and it would've taken about 300 to get to Columbia and back) but it was all worth it in the end. I'd like to echo what Sister Prawitt said about her investigator Curious (or is it Curios), Mary must be super important to the work of the kingdom because there were hurdles everywhere on that battle field...and snakes, the big ones, and spiders, and pointy flaming sticks, but we came through!

Sister Seaman and I got a member ride luckily and when we got to the church we went to fill up the font. Man those things take forever! I remember checking it about every 10 minutes and I honestly think that it was a miracle that that thing filled up at all! Sister Seaman and I sang a song, "If you could hie to Kolob" and because of some technical issues (Satan once again) we ended up doing it a capella. It was a different song for a baptism, but I was showing Mary some of my favorite hymns and she said that that one spoke to her. It was actually very beautiful and sweet without any piano and I feel like we did Mary proud. :) Mary's entire family came! They aren't members and it was wonderful to see them there and it meant a lot to Mary.

 

Baxter rolled over! That is so wonderful! But why is he being such a little punk? I'm glad that he's going to "dog therapy". I want for him to be there when I get home, well not all of him will be there as of Tuesday. Poor guy, but we don't want little punks running around now do we? Well...sounds like the cats are doing what they do best, you did warn Grandma, and those cats are persistent little buggers. I didn't get the picture of Amanda at homecoming. If you could send some I would appreciate it. :)

 

Well despite the baptism this week has been pretty trying. Sister Seaman felt sick, then I felt sick, and then people were just flat out rude to us all week. There was this one woman, who threatened to chase us down the street with a knife because she hates Mitt Romney that much. Sister Seaman kept her cool, and tried to tell her that he's not our leader and we don't follow him, but this lady was so stubborn and so tied up inside that the Spirit couldn't dwell with her. Very rude, told us to leave and that we were ignorant and shouldn't be missionaries. That was hard, and it didn't get better. I really just had to turn to Heavenly Father in prayer and ask him for help, because I couldn't do it alone that day, and I'm finding that I can't do it on my own any day. We all need that help that only our loving and eager Heavenly Father can give us, we just need to be humble enough to ask for his help. I had to be humble as well when I asked for a priesthood blessing this week. Don't worry, I'm fine. Missionary work is just overwhelming at times and I'm worried about all of you. I got the blessing at DDM (District Development Meeting). We take the bus down to Anderson every week and meet up with the rest of our district. We discuss investigators and train each other. I had asked Elder Cook for a blessing the night before, but I felt like I should wait until the District meeting to have it done. It was wonderful. All of the Elder's in my district (all 4 of them, they're so awesome!) laid their hands on my head and Elder Cook gave such a powerful and comforting message. I felt so taken care of and so loved. I haven't felt that much warmth in a long time. I forget sometimes how powerful the spirit is, and it was great to be able to have that blessing. It was also great because two members were there. We're not allowed to be in church buildings by ourselves with the Elders (for obvious reasons) and they were there to chaperone us I guess. After the blessing one of the sisters was crying. She said that she didn't realize how hard missionary work was and how much of a toll it takes on us. She said that I was a special spirit and that we would all do great things. I think that I was prompted to have my blessing the next day because all of the Elder's needed to feel that priesthood power, and because those Sister's needed to see how much we need their help. Help the missionaries! Don't just feed them, help them! You know better than us who is ready to hear the gospel, just point the way. That was another great experience from this week and I'm so grateful for my district.

 

This week I've been studying a lot about Jesus Christ and his life. I'm trying to answer a question that a contact had. Do we worship Jesus Christ. To some extent we do, but aren't we taught that we should worship God the Father, because the glory is his? I'm trying to find scriptural evidence. I've been studying the preexistence a lot as well and it amazes me the events that happened there! It's just so interesting to me that there was this great battle, and we don't remember any of it. I also never really knew that there were those who fought with Satan, there were those who fought with Michael, and there were those who didn't really fight at all. Those children received bodies as well though. I was just pondering how our actions in the preexistence affected the life that was laid out for us. I don't know if I fought for Christ's plan, but I'd like to think that I did. I'd like to think that I was valiant and brave, and if not, I'm fighting now for the kingdom of God on earth.

 

Go Nathan!!! Go Amanda!!! It sounds like busy weeks for them. :) I hope that Amanda had fun at homecoming (safe, BoM distance fun) :) and that Nathan will pray constantly for help with his new calling. I've learned while I've been here that we can try to do our callings without God, but things go so much smoother and we grow so much more when we turn to him.

 

Write Sister Seaman! She has been so wonderful to me and she hasn't heard from her family very much. I can tell that it makes her sad when I get to hear from you wonderful people and she gets nada. She loves pineapples, Doctor Who, and pretty much all candy. I would really appreciate it. :)

 

Well, I'm off to do the work. Thank you so much for your prayers and for your sweet spirits. I know that the Kingdom of God would not be nearly as great without your efforts and your love. Good luck Great grandma! I know you can do it!

 

TLLY, and I do too in case you forgot. :)

Sister Jones