"So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true...For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation." Joseph Smith

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Gratitude for so many Baptisms!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, I guess.  ha ha ha  The Italians sort of tried to celebrate Halloween, but obviously Thanksgiving is a holiday they don't even know about.  For us it will be just another ordinary day, but we're so busy I'm glad we're not having a big dinner or anything. 

Well, JULIE IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!  We're way super excited for her but she gave us a bit of a scare because she didn't show up for her baptismal interview.  Things all turned out for the best, though, as President Wolfgramm came yesterday to do the interview instead and said she is golden.  She is really happy and after the interview was literally glowing.  This will be the first baptism in which through the help of the Lord, I was able to find, teach, and then actually see them enter the waters of baptism instead of just being there at the beginning or end.
n saturday one of our appointments fell through and I felt like we should go visit one of our less active families, even though they live quite far away.  The mom is a member but all four of her children are not, her husband left her when she joined the church.  We showed up around 10:45 AM and the only one home was Jonathan, who is 10 years old.  Obviously we couldn't enter the house, so we asked if we could sit on the stairs and have a lesson with him.  We've been wanting to invite him to be baptized for quite some time now because he is ready...he's already read over half of the Book of Mormon without anyone asking and loves it!  He also has started coming to the primary activities by himself!  When we read Mosiah 18:8-10 with him and asked him what he thought, he said ''I want to be a part of the fold of God.''  We asked if he wanted to be baptized on December 10th and he said that after he asked his mom permission, he would love to!  I think he's just been waiting for someone to ask, and the timing happened to be right because he is usually persuaded by his older siblings who need a bit more time to wait.  

Finally, at our english class a woman walked in and greeted me, so I talked with her a moment but honestly had no clue who she was.  A member came up to me a few minutes later and said that she told him she wanted to be baptized.  I went to talk with her again and she told me her name was Carlota, that she had had all the lessons with the missionaries about 6 months ago, and wanted to be baptized as soon as possible!  My companion was so surprised that she asked if she had prayed about this decision and she said, ''Yes, I know it's true.''  We asked President how to proceed and he said to give her a mock baptismal interview, review anything that isn't clear, have her come to church one more time (she's already been twice and knows almost all the members), and then baptize her as soon as we can.  This is like those stories you read in the Ensign, not in real life!  We meet with her tomorrow.  And the best part, she plays raquetball and wants to play against me one day!  ha ha ha
 
We are so blessed!

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