Living Water
July 8, 2013
Wipeout
This week’s baptism went much better only based upon my reaction to the typical adversarial problems that are always bound to happen.
This baptism “caiu do céu.” [This baptism fell from the sky.] It’s funny that baptisms that fall from heaven are usually children. They’re angels thankfully caught by family members who are members of the church. Natan, the youngest of 4 VERY shy and quiet boys, asked his dad one day while looking at family pictures, “Dad, why wasn’t I dunked in the water?” It pains my heart to know that this good man was a missionary in Fortaleza back when Fortaleza also took in Sergipe and Pará with 2 functioning stakes. He said during the peak of his mission, he baptized an average of 400 a week. A WEEK!!! I can’t even imagine a Weekly Planning Session. It hurts my head just thinking of writing their full names. It goes to show that ANYONE is susceptible of slipping.
Our Forever Cold dunk tank FINALLY had some maintenance done on her, but they took out the water... bomba [pump]... so everyone thought that there was no way of filling the font. Problem-solver Céspedes went to work and prepped the Barreto Chapel and even made sure The Mimary (who somehow made fast friends
Wipeout
This week’s baptism went much better only based upon my reaction to the typical adversarial problems that are always bound to happen.
This baptism “caiu do céu.” [This baptism fell from the sky.] It’s funny that baptisms that fall from heaven are usually children. They’re angels thankfully caught by family members who are members of the church. Natan, the youngest of 4 VERY shy and quiet boys, asked his dad one day while looking at family pictures, “Dad, why wasn’t I dunked in the water?” It pains my heart to know that this good man was a missionary in Fortaleza back when Fortaleza also took in Sergipe and Pará with 2 functioning stakes. He said during the peak of his mission, he baptized an average of 400 a week. A WEEK!!! I can’t even imagine a Weekly Planning Session. It hurts my head just thinking of writing their full names. It goes to show that ANYONE is susceptible of slipping.
Our Forever Cold dunk tank FINALLY had some maintenance done on her, but they took out the water... bomba [pump]... so everyone thought that there was no way of filling the font. Problem-solver Céspedes went to work and prepped the Barreto Chapel and even made sure The Mimary (who somehow made fast friends
with Natan during the interview) was there waiting at the Barreto Chapel. Sweet. WINNERS! As all the well-informed members were leaving the chapel, bishop shouted at everyone that the baptism would be here. The font was filling! That’s a cool miracle... but now what? Okay, the dad, Eduardo, went to get the elders; and we watched the font. (Our Ward Mission Leader decided to no-show and luckily his son was at home and he luckily found the baptismal font keys.) The bumpy ride was smoothing out when we found out that the font… kept… filling… and filling… and filling. The high-tech, no-need-for-a-rubber-stopper draining button just filled the tank even MORE. Okay. Sister Céspedes, you know how to tinker around with this. Let’s figure this out while I
|
get some buckets. Other members stood around and gave their hypotheses. I kept dumping water out into the men’s bathroom toilets. Some members even said I should stop; it was a waste of energy. Well, if we just sit around, we will ALL be baptized in a little bit. But I just kept peeling grapes and trusting that The Céspedes would figure it out. Not gonna lie. I was totally proud of keeping my cool. You learn a thing or two on the mission.
My favorite part was feeling the cool, cleansing, supernatural powers of that Baptism water. How long have I felt those healing powers? Well over a year. Boy, do I miss the temple. And, most importantly, boy, do I miss my Savior. He washed my feet that day.
Living Water
The least-attended baptism went the smoothest. There even was a lady who rang the doorbell (yes, the church has a doorbell), saying she was a less-active and asked if there was some way for her to get juice and coffee from bishop. We invited her into the baptism reunion and said she could talk to bishop afterward. (He was conducting, so cool! First time.) She sat, saying she didn’t have much time. As the ordinance happened, she was as still as a tree. I asked if she remembered getting baptized. She didn’t say anything. After the baptism, she congratulated Natan, Natan’s father, and disappeared. She got exactly what she needed: a quench of her thirst with living water.
My favorite part was feeling the cool, cleansing, supernatural powers of that Baptism water. How long have I felt those healing powers? Well over a year. Boy, do I miss the temple. And, most importantly, boy, do I miss my Savior. He washed my feet that day.
Living Water
The least-attended baptism went the smoothest. There even was a lady who rang the doorbell (yes, the church has a doorbell), saying she was a less-active and asked if there was some way for her to get juice and coffee from bishop. We invited her into the baptism reunion and said she could talk to bishop afterward. (He was conducting, so cool! First time.) She sat, saying she didn’t have much time. As the ordinance happened, she was as still as a tree. I asked if she remembered getting baptized. She didn’t say anything. After the baptism, she congratulated Natan, Natan’s father, and disappeared. She got exactly what she needed: a quench of her thirst with living water.
Tears of Joy
Ever since we have been together here, we knew that “Only the Strongest” would stay here in Fonseca. It has been a fight ever since. Guess who won??? Only the Strongest ;) The dear, doida [crazy], dot Sister Céspedes got her wish. She’s going to open an area in Campo Grande and will TRAIN for the last 4 weeks she has. Her Sisteres Lideres Treinadoras [Sister Zone Leaders] are Sister Carvalho and Sister Céspedes’ daughter, Sister Santos. Cool, huh? She will not be going home with me because, apparently, asking for an extension on the mission only means that you can stay 30 more days. If you really have in mind another transfer, you have to ask a year in advance. So, this means that even if I have a 2-year visa, I can’t stay more than 30 days. It’s terrible that fear rules out our dreams. When President Monson announced the new age for missionaries, I thought of extending my mission WAY BACK THEN to see if I could serve 2 years. Now, it’s just a dream. And real life is coming to light at the end of the super fun, UNregrettable tunnel. Sadness. But have you thought about that?? FOUR weeks. Your last 4 weeks. Training. Opening an area. In a new zone. Well, she asked for it! We had a “Prestação de Contas” [Accountability Meeting], and everyone got burned. Our zone baptized the most and had the best results, and The Presidente said that even that was weak. We are prepping this land for a TEMPLE. I know. So, let’s get to work. We concluded in our “Prestação de Contas” that we learned a lot this past transfer about faith and how to participate in miracles. You don’t have to be perfect; you just have to be humble and willing to WORK. We explained that our numbers (4 baptisms, 1 family baptized, 1 family completed, 1 family reactivated) were miracles. And now this transfer is the transfer of learning about Repentance. “Buckle up, everyone! We’re going for a riiiiiide.”
I have now been Queened as Senior Líder Sister Treinadora. My companion is Sister Rodrigues, who was in Niterói, close by. Sister Almeida will be with Sister Da Silva, my lovely “granddaughter” (DIVISIONS ARE GONNA BE SO FUN); and Sister Techmeier will train. Alls I gotts ta say is “Careful what you wish for.”
Alma 29:4.
Ronaldo and Rosana were super sad about the transfer of Sister Céspedes. Ronaldo gave his famous tear-jerking prayer on his knees. Our last lesson together. I love so much how God makes miracles happen from within that have visible results. “Milagres acontecem de dentro para fora.” [Miracles happen from the inside out.] P.S. SISTER Romão will TRAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M GONNA BE A GRANDMA AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, I’m so proud. So proud. |