Suprise

Surprise! We had a baptism this week!

Some of you probably remember the 88 year old grandmother who was going to be baptized a few months ago. We had to postpone the baptism because she had a coffee addiction, which was later resolved by a pretty strong stomach ulcer she got after receiving a blessing. The doctor said she could never drink coffee again, which was great news, except with that she also lost her desire to get baptized.

Well, we kept stopping by about once a week to see how she was and help her to feel the Spirit. Basically if she ever decided she wanted to get baptized again we'd do it almost immediately. There was little we could teach her because she would just confuse the things we would teach her. Basically all we could do was testify to her and read to her from the scriptures.

Well, this Friday Elder Ray and I went over to visit her while on splits. Elder Ray invited her to be baptized but she continued to say that she wasn't sure. I felt humbled in that lesson because I knew that nothing I could really do or say of myself would help her accept the invitation. I felt strongly that the only thing that could help her would be the Spirit. So I just started reading her scriptures from the Book of Mormon. While doing that I realized the depth of my testimony of that wonderful book. I believed in its power to help our investigator feel the Spirit, even if she'd understand the scriptural language less than something I could teach or explain. I knew the best things I could do would be to pray for Heavenly Father's help and invite the Spirit while reading from the Book of Mormon.

So after many scriptures and several invitations, she finally accepted. We were pretty happy. I was scared to death that she was going to change her mind again. We set up a baptism for the very next day and got her interview done that night.

Her whole family came to the baptism. A lot of her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren were there for the baptism. They all looked so happy and excited to see her get baptized.

At the baptismal service her daughter thanked us for our diligence and hard work in never giving up on her mom. She called us angels. I definitely didn't feel anywhere near deserving of that, because really I didn't feel like I did much other than stop by their house when we didn't have other things planned. Still, it felt nice to hear such high praise. She was truly happy that her mother was finally baptized.

My favorite part of the baptismal service was shaking her hand after she was baptized. She looked so happy. She looked happier than I'd seen her before. She normally seems tired and she has a lot of health problems that cause her pain but she just seemed really happy. I felt that that was the reason I came out on the mission, to make people and families happy.

I also had the opportunity of giving a priesthood blessing last night. I felt as though the words I needed to say were being given to me as I needed to say them. I didn't really have to worry about what to say. After it was done I felt very peaceful.

In other news, I'm attaching pictures from the dust storm we had a week ago. Me and Elder Cheadle look pretty grimy. Customary myspace mirror shot included.

The Church has a cool video I've been watching over the past couple of days. It's called Family Answers. It's really good. They basically just interviewed a lot of social workers and psychologists about parenting. It's great for improving your interpersonal skills, something very important for us as missionaries. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to learn how to listen and communicate better, even if you're not a parent. It's helped me to think more about how loving our Heavenly Father is, since He is first and foremost the perfect Parent.

Love,

Elder Grasley