Sweet Is The Work: My First Baptism!

This week has been so good and so weird at the same time!

All week we were preparing for Ian's baptism! We had a few lessons with him and you could just see that he was ready and he heart was softening and humbling.

On Wednesday we got to watch Meet the Mormons! It was a great little documentary with a lot of great people featured in it. If you get a chance to watch it, the last story is super awesome and made me cry a lil' bit haha :) I'm a sucker for a missionary story.

We also had interviews with President Wilson this week and it was so good! At the beginning he always asks if we have any questions for him and I just asked what his advice for me was as I finish up training and how I can have a successful mission.

He said that I should just lose myself in the work. To never let companions or things at home become problems. My investigators should be my only problems. And just that as I set aside pride and embrace my mission fully, I will be the most happy and the most successful that I can be.

I love that.

Then on Thursday Ian got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yayyyy!!!! My first real baptism on my mission!

Guys, I don't even think you can understand, but when we first started teaching him I seriously thought it would take a MIRACLE for him to get baptized. He was in such a dark place and didn't have very much hope when we first met him.

But! The Spirit and the gospel changes people. And it softens hearts and turns everything around. It makes miracles happen!! I know that it wasn't me, or Sister Clonts, or Sister Roosendaal, or anybody else that can really take credit for his conversion. We were just guides to help him find his way and it was so cool to be a part of that.

Elder Chuntz baptized him because when Ian first met with missionaries in the spring Elder and Sister Chuntz taught him. Lets just say all they did was argue and it just wasn't Ian's time yet. But it was so cool to see him come full circle and for Elder Chuntz to be able to baptize him.

My companion and I taught the restoration to everyone at the baptism while Ian was getting changed after the actual baptism and it was just a great experience to testify of the restoration and to be able to see the outcome when we really learn that it's true.

Then after the actual baptism Ian got up and shared his testimony.

And it was bomb.

The whole time we taught him we just had to keep saying "Ian you need to trust God, be humble, and have FAITH! You're never going to be saved by logic. You need faith."

Then he got up at his baptism and talked about how he read Ether 12 and realized that he needed FAITH and he needed to ACT on that faith. Ahhhhhh I was like YESSSS! FINALLY!

He just needed to learn that for himself.

Then he went through all of the people who taught him and introduced him to the gospel and just thanked us and said a bunch of nice things and it was just sweet.

So basically, it was an awesome baptism and then he got confirmed on Sunday! Happy day :)

On a less happy note, a bunch of our other investigators are kind of going crazy and disappearing. We went to visit Shyanne yesterday because she wasn't answering any of our calls or texts and we could hear her inside the house telling her little brother to tell us she wasn't home......... so that was really sad. Hopefully she comes back around.

I don't have much time, but I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support and prayers!

You da best.

xoxo Sister Fowers