BAPTISM! aka making eternal covenants with our Heavenly Father that allow us to progress, sanctify and consecrate ourselves to become like our Savior Jesus Christ, thus bringing about the most intense happiness and joy, now and in the eternities!
December 20:
Today.is.the.day! Morgan was finally baptized…and it wasn’t an easy process. We got to the church early to help set up and hear that glorious sound of water filling the font. We moved it from the relief society room to the chapel because of how many people we had coming. This was definitely the biggest baptism we’ve had, there was a huge support from the ward, all of the families that he’d worked with, he also had a lot of his family come, it was awesome! He had uncles, cousins, siblings, parents, grandparents (I finally got to meet the lovely bro and sister Vaughan from Lehi, UT, they’re so sweet!), his dad and grandparents are the only members, so that was neat to have them all. Haha, the adversary continued to try and foil Morgan’s salvation. When we went to move from the chapel to the font, we discovered that the plug in the font hadn’t been properly placed, so the water had leaked out, it was only up to Bishop’s knees! Lucky for us, we have the best font filling water pressure in the stake and it only took about 10-15min. Morgan looked great in white, bishop was standing in there with him, but we realized his grandpa wasn’t here yet, and he was going to be one of the witnesses. His grandpa was in the bathroom, and was an older fella, took about another 10min. Oh man, the adversary was giving Morgan every opportunity to back out. I can imagine only a few other circumstances more awkward; standing waste deep in water, in a white flattering jumpsuit, about 40people are standing over staring at you, for those who you can’t see directly they can watch you in the overhead mirror. I’d imagine the feeling is similar to how the hippos feel, little kids with their faces pressed up against the glass, oh man I felt so terrible. But it happened, he did it, the spirit was there and it was a beautiful, beautiful thing. Morgan is one of the most prepared and faithful people I’ve met. He’s been through so much and is so determined to continue with this course correction he’s made for his life. When he shared his testimony, is was short, sweet and true (what else is there??). He said he knew the church was true, and that it was the only one that had the priesthood authority, he’s grateful for his baptism because it means that he can always have the Lord with him in his life, and he’s determined to keep with it.
what else...
December 17, 2014
Zone conference finallllly came, I’ve been so excited for it and it arrived. We combined with the Florence zone, so we had to drive 90 min up to Sumter, haha which is actually where I had my last Christmas zone conference back when I served in Hartsville. It seems as though I’ve come full circle. At zone conference we…
-practiced our skit, realized that the elders half of the skit was way better and more prepared than ours so we frantically started brainstorming ways to make our part up to par on the laugh scale.
-talked a lot about planning and becoming better planners so that we can be better missionaries. Planning really is the key, if we think about it Heavenly Father is the best planner in the world, just ponder on the PLAN of salvation for a wee bit. If we ever hope to become like him, acquiring the skill of a master planner has to be one of our desires.
-broke for lunch, BBQ, potato salad and chili, a good southern lunch
-did our skits. Ours was one of the funniest, I was so relieved each time laughter would erupt from the audience, haha, definitely a Christmas miracle!
-watched Meet the Mormons. I loved it, and was one of the few who DIDN’T cry during the missionary mom part.
-drove back to Summerville with sis stout, she’s joining me on exchanges. The rest of the night we taught bro Isom and Lauren how to pray in sign language and then visited with a long lost semi-less active, Sister Fagin!...it’s amazing how you can just drop off the radar if the church doesn’t have your current address.
love y'all and hope you have the greatest Christmas ever!
I'm so greatful to be in the position I am on my mission. The world, and many members and missionaries look at the missionary rules as restrictions that hold us back, but I have been blessed with direction from my heavenly father to allow me to foster the greatest potential for spiritual growth. just think, I don't have to worry about finances, school, work, relationships, dating, what I wear, nothing, my only concern is bring others to Christ. What a job?! :D:D It's the greatest in the world and I earnestly pray that y'all can take the time to have a moment with the Savior, and ponder or the reality and divinity of his birth, ministry, sacrifice and death, and how he still lives today and leads us in His restored church.
Love y'all!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!
love, sister smith
In 1 month I will return Jan. 22 at 2:22pm an early present for my mom Birthday 2-22
No comments:
Post a Comment