Don, our dapper gentleman we're teaching.
Sara after she was baptized.
A really awesome car with lots of animals glued to it--including multiple unicorns (my kinda ride!)
Dear Family!
It looks like you had loads of fun this week with Grandma Healy's birthday celebrations! Wish I coulda been there, but I got to see some pictures, and that will suffice.
This week was good. Sara's interview went really well, and so did her baptism! President and Sister Jeppson came and presided, and Sara was so excited to have them there. And our zone leaders came for support as well, which was really nice. Sister Call and I handed out the programs and greeted people as they came into the chapel. The whole ward was there to support her, so it was stupendous! One of the young women stood next to us holding a basket of coloring pages with baptism related things on them, and baggies of crayons for the kids to color during the service. Sara changed into Sister Milkwik's (the member she lives with) temple dress and she was just beaming from ear to ear! Sister Milkwik's 10 year old son sang a song and after each verse he'd look down at his family and Sara and smile--it was so sweet. In the opening prayer, Sara was blessed for her choices to be there and for her love and care for the Milkwik's daughter who's autistic and who Sara nannies. Then Sister Milkwik gave a talk on baptism and talked a lot about how this is the beginning of Sara's 'happily ever after.' I guess there was a really excellent talk by President Uchtdorf last year about this, and they love reading it together. Then she sang (and she's a professional singer, so it was really neat) a Jenny Phillips song, probably titled 'Happily Ever After'. Then Sara was baptized by Brother Milkwik. All the primary kids sat in front of the font, and the rest of us piled in to the primary room to watch. It was so neat! While she was changing, the young women passed out papers and pens for everyone in the ward to write their congratulations and testimonies on for Sara. There was another talk, another musical number, and then Sara ended with her testimony. It was so sweet.
When she started nannying for them two years ago, she would linger a long time in their home after work hours were up. She loved the sweet spirit she felt there, and she didn't want to leave. She hadn't felt anything like that anywhere else and she wanted to stay with it. After a year of working for them, her parents moved and she needed somewhere to stay, so the Milkwiks invited her to live with them. She asked them all sorts of questions, and they had gospel discussions nearly every day. She realized members of the Church aren't strange at all, and she wanted others to feel around her the way she felt when she was with the Milkwiks or at Church. She loved Church and how nice everyone was there. She decided to take the discussions (after a long time of trying to get the Elders to teach her, and it not working out for whatever reason, Sister Call and I finally got the opportunity), and read the entire Book of Mormon, then wait a year, and make an informed decision whether or not to be baptized. After a very short period of time, she realized she already knew this was true and she wanted this for the rest of her life. She ended by saying, "I never thought two years ago I would ever say this. But I know Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know the Book of Mormon is true. And I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true Church." My heart really burned when she said those last few words, and I know that what she testified is true. It was such an amazing day! And then they had food and a big white cake for her. Sister Milkwik is of a Libby-ish disposition, so there were lots of fun details in the baptismal service and the after party. It was great.
Well, we found out that tomorrow Sister Call is being transferred, so I am staying in Fardale for at least one more transfer. That's basically all the news for the week. Now we need to go find some new people to teach!
I love you so much and I'm so glad you all had such a wonderful week! I love you!
sister mister
