Week 15 "Difficult is Good"

Man! Missions are so good! But MAN, I am so tired, ha, and I thought p-day was a day of rest...well I was mistaken.  It's okay though, because this week went so great.  

This is the first baptism I have had on my mission!

     For over two months we've been teaching one of our investigators M. and her son R. and this week they were finally baptized!  There was so much preparation that went into the baptism and it amazed me how much effort is required for a baptismal service.  We cleaned the font, created some programs, found people to participate in the program.  The morning of the baptism we arrived very early to fill the font.  Because the faucet in the font is very slow, we attached a hose to the kitchen sink and ran it to the font.  That worked for about an hour, until the hot water ran out.  After that we heated pots of boiling water and dumped them in the font.  Then the font was finally full, and just in time for the service.  The service went great and the spirit was so strong.  I enjoyed being a part of one of the characteristic parts of missionary work.  I felt like this entire experience from teaching our investigators to baptizing them taught me the lesson that a baptism is such a team effort.  There were elders prior to Elder Johnson and I who had initially come in contact with this incredible family, and many more people who were involved in helping them to progress towards baptism, especially all of the members that had helped us teach them.  So in reality, nobody "gets" baptisms on mission and they are certainly not an indicator of spirituality or success.  They're simply a blessing that the Lord allows us to participate in when all invloved work together and work hard.

Making sure the font is nice and clean for the baptism

Boiling water to ensure the font is warm

Our creative solution to get water to the font

   Other happenings this week, we continued to do service for a member of the ward by trimming hedges and cutting her lawn.  She thanked us by feeding us lunch at her house, and we had Raclette, which is basically a meal where you melt cheese and pour it over whatever you want, usually potatoes, ham, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.  We also moved a lot of wood for another member in the ward, and I don't get tired of doing service, I think it's one of my favorite parts of a mission!

Toad I found

    Elder Johnson and I continue to see success, and I feel like our efforts are paying off.  I feel like the Lord knows the challenges we face as missionaries, and though we all continue to be faced with difficulties and problems that doesn't mean we're bad people, It means the Lord has confidence in us and wants to test us to improve.  I'm feeling a lot of that pressure and though it is difficult to see self-improvement, I know I'm being refined and improved each day out here!

   Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Jamison Jones