On Tuesday we went tracting in the and planned on riding our bikes later in the day, but that did not end up happening. We went tracting longer than we were planning on and then had a member call and invite us over for dinner, so it did not make sense to ride our bikes with the change in timing. We also went to the crochet service group that meets at a library in our area Tuesday afternoon. I finally finished the nicu baby hat I was making and I am so happy with how it turned out! The member that invited us over for dinner was someone I had never met before, so it was cool to get to know them a little better and meet their kids. Our short lesson after dinner was about the importance of grounding ourselves through scripture study and prayer. We tied Bumble (the bee I crocheted) to a string and let the kids hit it around. We then tied a second string to him and let the kids hit him again. With the two strings, Bumble did not go flying around and was able to stay strong. We then related the strings to scripture study/prayer. I was really proud of the lesson because it was a random idea I came up with when we were in a rush and we have now used it multiple times.
On Wednesday our friend Alan had his baptismal interview! We were also under a tornado watch most of the day (but it was not a warning, so we pretty much ignored it). Although, The tornado did make the Elders that drove down to do the interview stay in Evansville for an extra 5 hours…our area missed out on all of the excitement.
On Thursday we had a final lesson with our friend Alan before his baptism. He is hilarious! We got a text from him in the morning telling us about how proud he had been of himself for discovering that Mormon's father's name was Morm (It is not). In the text he went on the explain that he had shown his friend who had laughed and then explained that that it was an abbreviation for Mormon. He ended the text with "So on further reading…I have discovered that I am an idiot." From what I wrote, it definitely does not sound as funny as it was, but I assure you it was.
Later we went over to his house for lunch and a lesson. He and his cousin were still cooking when we got there. We got to watch them hustle around and cook (Alan insists that he is the chef and does not let us help with anything). It was super funny because we watched them burn hamburger buns 3 times. The first time Alan goes, "I burned the buns." (They were burned black), then his cousin put new ones in and proceeded to burn them too. She started telling Alan about how she did not like his toaster oven and asked how she was supposed to not burn the buns. Alan responded, "Just watch it, Babe." It was the funniest meal, we have been to in a while. After the meal we had a lesson to make sure Alan was solid on everything before his baptism. Anyone who knows Alan knows that he will just talk and talk. You will tell him you need to go and he will say, "just one more thing." Somehow that one more thing always takes like an hour. We left his house 45 minutes later than we planned on which made us have to re-plan our day.
On Friday we had interviews with the mission president and District council. It made for a busy morning (considering that both were in opposite directions). After district council we decided to drop by and visit some people on our way home. The first person we tried to visit was a self referral that always said they were busy before abruptly hanging up and never answered our texts. We decided to drop by in person. When we got to the door we could hear people talking inside. We knocked, but no one came to the door. We then got window checked by a child though the blinds, followed by an adult saying, "No, no, keep it closed." It made for a funny contact…or lack thereof.
We also visited one of our newer friends on the way down. We had a really entertaining visit because he told us that since retiring 10 years ago he has made a hobby of arguing with atheists online. He said that they were brutal and he was brutal right back. He said, "I would like to say it works, but I have not had any baptisms so far." He then started asking a lot of questions about how the church had such a strong sense identity among its members and how we convinced people to change. We explained that we do not argue with people, but if their hearts are open we give them the information and let them decide for themselves. He was very interested in what we had to say. After the lesson he and his wife showed us their animals. They have multiple exotic birds and at least three cats. His wife used to be a zoo keeper, so she also showed us really cool objects she had collected over the years (porcupine quills, ostrich eggs, picture of Elephant footprint, etc.). It was a fascinating visit.
On Saturday Alan got baptized!!! Alan has been taught for a long time and been taught by so many missionaries that the mission president and his wife came to his baptism. We were getting really worried when everyone (including the mission president) was there and Alan had not shown up 10 minutes before his service was supposed to start. Thankfully he showed up right before we were really starting to panic. It was a wonderful baptism!
On Easter we spent most of the day at the church. Sister Bastian played two musical numbers in Sacrament meeting. Almost the entire hour of church was music (it was great). After church we studied in a random room for an hour and a half. After that we went to the Marshallese branch where Sister Bastian played another musical number. It was really cute because it was the branch's first musical number ever and when they finished the branch started clapping. We had dinner with the Halls. It was really funny because someone must have told the ward we did not have a dinner appointment for Easter. We had 4 different families reach out to us and invite us over for dinner. After dinner we had a lesson at Sister Matthews' house with our friend Mellissa. It was a really chunky lesson because her baptism is scheduled for this coming Saturday. It got slightly rushed at the end, because we needed to make our curfew of 9:30. We pulled into the parking lot at 9:29, and sprinted up the stairs. I am happy to report that we were inside by 9:30.
For Alan's baptism, I crocheted him a whale. It symbolized that "the holy ghost 'whale' always be with him." Sister Bastian crocheted him a clam. He sent us a picture after to show us that he had given them a place of honor in his living room.
It has been a crazy week, but so many good things have happened. There were so many funny things that happened this past week.
My quote of the week by Ulisses Soares is, "One of the most evident signs that we are drawing closer to the Savior and becoming more like him is the loving, patient, and kind way with which we treat our fellow beings." As we love God's children we increase our love for God!
Pictures:
- Alan and Bishop
- Alan, President and Sister Alder, Sister Bastian, and I
- After Alan's Baptism
- Nicu Hat I crocheted
- Sister Bastian and I being silly
- Alan's Whale
- Whale's place of honor
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