Hello everyone, as you can tell from this email being sent on Wednesday rather than on Monday, p-day this week is on Wednesday rather than on Monday.
Also, it snowed last week! Granted when it snows
here its usually gone by noon, but it has been pretty cold. Luckily I
have acquired a jacket since being on my mission so I have a little more
than just the two sweaters I came out here with. Even that jacket
though sometimes just doesn't stand a chance with the wind blowing,
which makes me grateful we have a truck rather than just bikes.
In other news, Thanksgiving was this past week as you may have heard. It was quite a day. We ate. And that was pretty much it.
In
more exciting news, two people were baptized on Saturday! Ladonna was
baptized in the morning, and then Jarom, a 9 year old kid who knows the
scriptures better than I do, was baptized in the afternoon. And Jarom's
wish has always been to be baptized in a river. So his parents were like
sure, we have a river on our property, we can do that. So that is what
they all planned on even though it was the end of November. And as I
said before, it had snowed last week and it was like 30 degrees on
Saturday afternoon. But sure enough they did it.
But that was
a really awesome day. I'm just so grateful to have gotten to know them
and to be there for their decisions to be baptized and follow Jesus
Christ. Its always a spiritual and uplifting and inspiring time to be at
people's baptisms.
And there's a scripture I really like
that talks about baptism and it's in the Book of Mormon, in the book of
Mosiah, in the 18th chapter, from the 8th, 9th, and 10th verses.
"...and
now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called
his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may
be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that
mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to
stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all
places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of
God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may
have eternal life—
10 Now I say unto you, if this be the
desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name
of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a
covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments,
that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?"
And
I could go into the context of this story, and explain the background
and what not, because it is a really great story. But I won't take that
time to do that today. I just want to focus on those verses and how they
talks really simply about how if we are trying to be a good person and
follow Jesus Christ, then baptism can help us with that. When we're
baptized we can feel God's presence more abundantly and constantly
because that's what He promises us when we promise Him that we will take
Christ's name upon us and strive to do all those good things that
scripture talks about.
Til next p day,
~Elder Oswald
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| Ladonna's baptism |
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| Jarom (the day after the baptism because in all the freezing-ness of a baptism in the river, a picture didn't happen the day of) |
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| The river where Jarom was baptized |
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