"Plus One"

Me, Peter, and Elder Pace - September 27th, 2008

Well, we had our first baptism together as a companionship, and the first baptism of my mission! I had the privilege of baptizing Peter, which turned out to be quite an adventure in itself. Wheen we got there, we showed Peter the baptismal font as it was bring filled up. Peter flipped and grabbed on to Elder Pace's arm really tightly. We had another investigator there named Jovian who has a leg problem who got just a little scared because it took five times before Peter got baptized.

First of all, the baptismal service started late because we were waiting for Peter's relatives. We then started the service and got through all the normal points. The time came for Peter to be baptized, and we headed to the baptismal font. As Peter walked into the water, he stopped and said "It's so cold." I took a minute or two of convincing to get inton the water. As we got into position, we kept being told to move around so that we were in the right position. After five minutes, we got into the right position. The first time, Peter's toe popped out of the water, so we had to do it again. The next three times, Peter got more and more nervous and scared, so Elder Pace and I had to calm him down. On the fifth (or sixth) try, I managed to get him all the way underwater, amidst some stumbling and falling.

As we were changing, Elder Pace asked Peter how he felt, and Peter's response was that he felt refreshed! After we had changed, and finished up the rest of the service, we headed to the kitchen to have some refreshments. There, we were able to talk to Peter's Uncle, Aunt, and cousin. At first, there were a little guarded against us, and they asked why Peter had been baptized so soon. We explained that when someone feels the Spirit and knows it's true, they get baptized and recive the Holy, and from then on continue to progress. They warmed up to us after that. It turns out that Peter's Uncle (Mr. Tshe) has worked with our Stake Patriarch before, so he was very friendly. It turns out that the three of them also go to three different Churches, so they are very open to any Church. In fact, Mr. Tshe wants us to teach Peter's younger brother, who has been getting into trouble with the law, so we'll definitely see how that goes. All in all, it was wonderful, and Peter was confirmed a member of the Church, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday.

Other than that, we've had a good week. We met a great new investigator from China that Elder Pace and I pulled off the street into the Church after one of our appointments had just cancelled. We had a wonderful lesson with him about who God is, and committed him to coming to Church and accepting a baptism date.

Oh! Amazing news! Aravin has confirmed that he wants to be baptized on October the 11th! We're so excited that he has cjosen not to firewalk and taken that leap of faith to be baptized. His baptismal interview is scheduled for this Saturday, and the baptism will follow the next Saturday!

So, "plus one" this past week, and "plus two" next week!