Jerome is BAPTIZED!!!!!!! He was all smiles the
entire three hours of church, and by the time his baptismal service came
he was glowing. It was incredible. As soon as he came up out of the
water he gave us a huge two thumbs up, and really couldn't stop
smiling. Amazing. But the best part was that after the service, he
came up to Sister Holt and me, and said, "Now you know where you have to
help me get to next," as he held up a picture of the temple that the ward
had given him. I almost started crying (big surprise, I know), but to
realize that he truly has his sights set on the temple gave me so much peace.
He really is on the right path. It may have taken 6 sister missionaries,
9 months, and some huge dosages of the Spirit to get him there, but he's
there. And he's there to stay.
Overall, we've had some pretty incredible miracles this
week. Last week we found a girl who had been taught in Rockville, then
disappeared from them when she moved to our area. We were checking on
someone that had been taught in her house before, and we almost gave up
because we only had half of the address, but we kept trying, and found the
right house and then we found her! Then this week we went to check on her,
but met her mother who had actually met with missionaries years and years ago,
and was even going to be baptized. But before that happened, she married
her 2nd husband (the man she's married to now) who is Catholic, so she started
going to church with him. It was truly miraculous that we found her, and
when we gave her a Book of Mormon, she immediately opened and started reading
it. We sat there for about 2 minutes, not knowing what to do (she was
reading in her head), but eventually we set up an appointment at the Visitors'
Center for this week. It will be incredible to teach this family!
Ah. So much more to tell. But my brain is so
slow.
Lyzette wants to be baptized! (She's the one from
Cameroon that was basically teaching us how to be missionaries.) We saw
her yesterday and taught the full Restoration lesson. When we were
talking about Christ, we brought up baptism, and authority, and
following Christ's example, and immersion, and all of those good things, but
she completely disagreed. She's a devout Catholic, and thinks sprinkiling
is okay, and everyone needs to be baptized when they're babies. We talked
a little, trying to explain, but felt like we needed to move on, so we did, and
taught the rest of the lesson (Joseph Smith story, BofM, Holy Ghost).
Then, the Spirit was there, and we invited her to be baptized, and she said
yes! Surprising, but not, at the same time. The Lord works in
mysterious ways, and sometimes his children do too.
More good news: Debbie has come to church three times in a row
now. Keep her in your prayers please!
And we haven't met with the King of Cameroon yet this week,
but I'll let you know how that goes when we do.
Oh my. I want to tell you about the people in this
ward too, because they are incredible, but that will have to wait. No
time. Maybe you could pray that my fingers will type faster or that time
will slow down the next time I have to email. It goes by sooooo fast.
Okay. I have to go. I love you all. Stay
true to what's eternal.
Love, Sister Welch
