November 28, 2011

Exciting week! First things first....yesterday we had a baptism! There was a less-active family who had fallen away from the church a few years ago, and they have recently made their way back. One of their sons was 11 and really wanted to be baptized! So we have been working with them for about a month or so, such a wonderful, wonderful family. It’s amazing to see how the gospel lightens people’s loads and put smiles on! It helps us be our best selves. It turned out to be a very nice service with a remarkable feeling.

 

We have been working with an exceptional young woman from Germany for a month or so now, and she is excited to be baptized on Christmas! This week we worked towards setting her with a baptismal goal, and she is so excited! We met her on her first day here in Canada, and she has embraced the gospel and its teachings beautifully. After teaching her many of the missionary lessons, we challenged her to start praying about baptism. She wouldn't commit to a date and said she would keep studying and pray about it. We went for almost a good week without seeing her, and at our next appointment the first thing she said was she decided she wanted to be baptized! Her answer came in an interesting way....we had been seeing her nearly every day for a few weeks, and when she didn't see us, and when she wasn’t at church or talking about the gospel with members for a period of time, she sensed that something was "missing". There was a hole that she didn't realize was there before. When she came to realize that the thing was missing was learning about the gospel she immediately decided she needed to be baptized! She is awesome and is progressing wonderfully. Her baptism is officially set for December 25-Christmas day.

Another bit of exciting news! Transfer calls yet again...my dear time with my good companion Elder Tomsik is spent. He is getting moved back to Spanish work further south in the city, and I have received a new assignment to be District Leader and to train a new missionary again. Last time I was really nervous, and I am a bit this time too, but I'm very excited for the new challenges that this will bring and the possibilities I now have to learn and grow even more!

Mortality is all about learning lessons required for progression! I'm glad Heavenly Father lets us keep learning.

E. Porter