We were having some really great weather recently, but everything changed when the cold front attacked. Now it's windy for days and the cold has reared it's horrendous face to destroy us. Hide yo kids, hide yo wife. Heck, hide yo family, everybody gettin' freezed up in here.
One of my favorite people from Deer Park got to be baptized on Saturday! I got permission to take Elder Herem with me and attend the baptism, since the two of us found her and put her on date for baptism. She was pretty nervous because the anticipated gathering of 10 people changed into like 40. It took a bit for her to enter the font because of fear of everyone watching, but she was an entirely new person once she rose from the waters as a reborn disciple of Christ. She was at peace and very happy. We were, too. Then, me and Elder Herem were given the chance to give a presentation while she changed into normal clothes. Like, I remember that we were asked like 5 days in advance, but I put it out of my mind and then was reminded about it an hour before the baptism. We ended up giving a 5 minute version on the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I got on the piano to play Joseph Smith's first prayer while he recited the first vision, then the two of us bore testimony to everybody. We even had a couple people in tears. Not bad for no prior prep. Ultimately, it was wonderful to see our friend be baptized and also be reunited with a small number of our Deer Park buddies.
The assistants to the president called us up one morning so that they could set up an exchange for the day. I wasn't expecting it at all but thoroughly enjoyed it. I got to be with the missionary I was with in one of the most powerful phases of my mission, Elder Stuart! I think I'm currently in my most powerful phase, but lost a bit of power between last transfer and when I was his companion. Anyhow. We went out did some serious contacting and tracting. It was odd to me that we faced minimal opposition. Everyone (except like 2 people) were so kind and willing to listen. We found like 5 people who are willing to have the missionaries of that area back to share more. We also taught multiple lessons and caught up on old times. Of course, there was some punching involved, but what can you do? Haha. It was a really great day and it was good to be with him again. I just wish they had more food in their apartment!
That wind has just been destroying us this week! I think we were on bikes on the windiest day, which was reaching 27 mph. Of course, the wind was blowing the opposite direction. It was really hard to keep pedaling, especially since we did 19 miles on bikes that day. No joke, the closer we got to our destination, the worst the wind got. The last 200 yards or so, the wind switched to 80 miles per hour. Literal tumbleweeds blasted through the airs, trying their darndest to send us to the depths. I seriously wanted to just give up and turn right back around. We punched our way through the last foe and parked our bikes at a complex which was swarming with the fuzz. I kinda laughed to myself as I saw a cop asking a 10 year old questions on the playground while we locked up the bikes. Anyways, we fought through the blasts of heavy wind and bugged the residents, finding a new person to teach and also finding a less active of many years, whose boyfriend we might be able to pick up. Nice.
So yeah, we found 4 people to teach this week. That is insane for this particular area. It's really just a hard place to serve and a lot of opposition is going around through the mission, whether its physical or emotional ailments, a lot of people are going through tough stuff. It makes me think of a scripture that I read in Helaman 3:25. I challenge you to read this. If you fail the challenge, I don't want to describe your willpower to you. Anyhow, it helped me to see that people can be happy, even in the hardest situations. These people are in an era of war and confusion and more. I imagine it a lot like modern times. When things were the hardest, things were also the best. There's plenty of talks about it, so I won't go off the wall, but when things have become impossible and you're about to fall over, just hang in for a moment longer and you'll see a miracle or 9.
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| Baptism! |
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| Locking up the bikes |
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| Me and Elder Herem |
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