Baptism Invites. Oh, yes. :D

Hello Everyone!

 

I remembered my camera this week. Be prepared for pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. :D

 

This week, I invited someone to be BAPTIZED for the first time!! We were in a single's FHE, and there were three nonmembers. I made a boo-boo and only invited Mike and Cindy, but Sister Bell invited Rob and covered for me. We had just taught the Plan of Salvation and I asked Cindy first, then added, "And you too, Mike?" Without hesitation, Mike said YES!! (Not like that, though. That was my enthusiasm.) Cindy was too overwhelmed and not ready to make any commitments. Don't worry; she's coming to FHE again tonight and we're hoping to get over there to teach her again. Here's the real problem: All three of them are not in our area, so other than FHE we don't get to teach them. We officially handed Mike over to the Elders yesterday. If he keeps coming to Church as consistently as he has been, we'll still get to teach him on Sundays. :D

 

We had another new investigator this week named Shelly. She's the nonmember sister of a less-active, Denise. Denise is divorced and has her two youngest children living with her, and Shelly lives with them. They've had some hard times, so Denise came to see the Bishop about welfare and such. Shelly came with, but was so nervous and stressed that she drank rum earlier in the day. That was at four o'clock, and she hadn't eaten since (this was at seven or eight). One of the things I've learned on my mission is that it isn't good to drink and not eat. (Wasn't what you were expecting, was it? :P) Well, we were listening to Shelly talk about all the hard things going on, and tying it to the Atonement, when all of a sudden Shelly asked to go to the ladie's room. Once there, she "lost her cookies", as she put it. Apparently, rum tastes a lot worse coming up than going down. :P She needs to gospel so much, and we're hoping she'll be open to it. She already loves us, and we're going back to paint their porch steps this week. Service is the key to entering these people's hearts!

 

I love you all so much! You other missionaries, thank you for sharing your experiences and testimonies with me. You all inspire me. I love this missionary support system we have as we all preach the same gospel all over the world! :D

 

Family, it was wonderful talking to you yesterday. I love you all! Have a fabulous week, and keep writing me letters. :D

 

Love, Sister Richards