New Companion - 08/26/13

Adventure is out there! And so are the pure in heart. I just have to go find them.

This past week was pretty adventurous. Our baptism actually happened! But not without some opposition. The night before the baptism, our investigator's parents invited their Methodist pastor over to the house to "talk the devil out of him". He invited us over to be on his side. I was very nervous about getting into a bash, but the spirit was with us. Our driver/teamup was excellent  and the Methodist pastor got shut down pretty quick by pure testimony and biblical support. After we shot down his first couple arguments, he mostly kept quiet and we were able to talk with the parents and answer their questions. In the end, I think it was a very productive meeting. 

The baptism on Thursday was an amazingly spiritual experience, with a very good speaker and some excellent testimonies from those in attendance. We filled up every seat in the relief society room and had some standing in the back! And the spirit was so strong. In fact, my zone leader that suffers from Tourette syndrome says that his twitches and tics only stop in the celestial room... and at this baptism. It was intense. But the mother stood in the back the whole time and shook her head, looking very distraught and unimpressed. She left as soon as she could. The father was more polite, and I think the spirit touched him a little bit more than the mom. But "B" (new convert) is the one that matters, and I'm sure he had a good experience. 

My companion flew home on Friday morning. I'm glad I was able to make his last few days comfortable and enjoyable. We had to figure out things like where to find a pianist with only an hours notice, how to ship a bike to Ohio, and where to do our laundry in the middle of the week for free - can you believe it costs $2 to wash and dry a single load here at our apartments! We also said goodbye to all of our investigators, which was good because it actually got us into more homes than the week previous.

I feel like our teaching pool is kind of sparse, so I'll have to get cracking on finding us more people to teach. I'm sure there is lots that can be done in this ward! I just have to focus and have faith. There will be opposition. Doesn't matter, had faith.

My new companion got here Friday night. Actually, he's not a full-time missionary, but an 18-year-old serving a mini-mission for a week. He'll be with me until 31 August 2013. Then we have to find another solution for the last week of the transfer. President doesn't seem to have a solution in mind just yet... but he's not very worried about it and neither am I. It's nothing we can't handle. Worst-case-scenario, I get to drive around with the Zone Leaders for a week and try to cover the two areas in a trio. No worries. 
My mini missionary companion is a pretty solid dude. I don't feel like I have to train him too much, because he's already served a mini-mission before. He's also a temple worker. Go figure. He'll be leaving for a mission in Guatemala in October and working a temporary job in Utah next week, which is why he can't just stay for two weeks. But we had fun on Saturday. I found out that one of our member families keeps pet snakes, and I got to hold them. The rosy boa was my favorite. The gopher snake pooped on me. So that was an adventure. I got to hold a rosy boa, chase down a red racer and get pooped on by a gopher snake. The mini thought that was hilarious. No big deal for me. 

Oh, and does anyone here know of the metal band Suicide Silence? On Friday I gave a priesthood blessing to the mother and sister of their lead singer. They are one of my favorite part-member families and I hope to keep seeing them. 

Well, I'm off to go save the world. I've been touched by the spirit this week, to the point of tears on Saturday when I was listening to some music during breakfast. I know that God gives us the strength we need to go on, and that my faith in my savior Jesus Christ is not misplaced. He loves us, he cares for us, and his gospel is the way to happiness.