Week 29

This week was a really exciting one for me because I had my first baptism! Being able to be a part of someone making their first covenant with God is such an amazing thing to do.


On Monday, I spent a lot of time at zone P-day playing a new board game I picked up at the store. It was pretty fun, but it took way too long to figure out all the rules. At dinner that night, we ate with a family whose son was just finishing up with at-home MTC and would be going to the MTC in Provo in a couple of days. It was fun talking about our mission experiences with them and just trying to give them some advice. That night during the family home evening call with our whole mission, they announced when the next mission-wide temple trips will be happening and my zone will be going towards the end of March.


Tuesday was a pretty average day, but I'm thankful for that after all the changes to the last week's routine.


Wednesday, we spent a lot of our finding time just visiting people who had talked to the missionaries in the past and seeing if they'd like to hear a message. It actually went really well because we ran into a bunch of people we've never met who wanted to hear a message.


Thursday, we had apartment inspections so we had to take some time and get everything cleaned up. This apartment has had a lot of elders going in and out in the past couple of transfers, so there was a lot of junk just left behind we had to get rid of. Once that was all taken care of and the apartment was looking nice, Elder Stanger and I went on exchanges with the Zone leaders. Because we live with them, exchanges are pretty easy to do and usually just for the day. I went to the ZLs' area which was pretty cool because I'd never been there and it was a bit different from my normal area.


Friday, the gym at our apartment finally reopened, so Elder Stanger was ready to head out as soon as we finished daily planning. At district council, we focused a lot on what we can do to improve missionary work in our area and taking time every day to assess if we are spending our time as best we can. The rest of the day was just heading from lesson to lesson and we even got to give a blessing to a member who is wanting to come back to church. Those types of days are my favorite just because we don't have any time to get discouraged.


Saturday was the day! We spent most of the day just getting everything set up for the baptism. We had to work around some of the other wards a bit because they were having their youth baptisms, but we managed to get everything set up with time to spare. Being able to help someone be baptized with the proper authority is such an amazing experience and makes the hard times and trials all worth it. A couple of the members in the ward gave some talks, then our friend Lyna was baptized and gave a super sweet testimony about why she chose to be baptized.


Sunday, Lyna was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm so happy they were able to make this first covenant with God.


In Mosiah 18:12-14 it says, "12 And now it came to pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the first, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart. 13 And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world. 14 And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit." The joy and powerful feeling of the spirit that comes from baptism by proper authority is something so precious and something to be treasured.


1- Everyone got their milk because one sister said they didn't like milk lol.
2- Really cool art of the tree of life.
3- Valentine's Day video about the church leaders and their wives.
4+5- Baptism.




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