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| Pete's baptism and confirmation was a very spiritual and wonderful experience! We are so proud of the path he is taking. He has such a light about him now. He really is going to be a leader in the church! He is so loving and fun. His testimony is solid too, despite family telling him what he is doing is wrong he KNOWS this gospel is true! |
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| Text in Conference |
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| Remember how Elder Ballard told us missionaries are good at being persistent? I think I'm learning that well. We have tried this door so many times we finally decided we would just attack it with cards. I think she will get the message, do you? :) |
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| What have we been eating? Gluten free BBQ chicken pizza! |
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| Murray! It must be good. |
When Sister Hale and I agreed to let Sister Chappell join
our companionship last transfer we knew it would be an adjustment, and it
was. We all grew a lot, and there were
so many miracles along the way. I
suppose the best way to tell you about this week is to start at the beginning.
Tuesday was our P-day.
We went to lunch with Sister Cano, the wife in a family Sister Chappell
reactivated. That night Sister Chappell
was having a hard time with changes and a lot of other things.
Wednesday morning we drove to Mandarin early so Sister
Chappell could talk to President Craig.
It was decided she would be going home on Monday, and until then she
would remain with us. We attended institute
that night and had a wonderful lesson on the Good Samaritan.
Thursday night a miracle happened. The Elders showed Pete Finding Faith in
Christ, but they had to leave right after.
We began talking to Pete about his baptism. Sister Chappell decided to bear her testimony
and the Spirit completely took over. She
testified of turning our will over to God.
That is what she is doing in leaving the mission again, and that is what
Pete would need to do to get baptized before marrying Sister Ramirez. He wants to wait to marry her rather than
moving out and being baptized now. Or at
least that was his plan, until Sister Chappell invited him to be baptized
sooner--she said she would like to see him baptized. The spirit was so strong! Pete agreed to be baptized Saturday between
the afternoon conference session and priesthood session. We started getting all of the plans together
for the baptism.
Friday we spent the day planning for the next week, and
for Pete's baptism. In the afternoon we
went to Chirag's house and taught the first lesson to his friend, Aileen. Chirag is the guy the AP's taught and he is
friends with Caitlin and Kristen. The
twins know Aileen from school too, actually.
She is so sweet and has a sincere desire to learn more. She agreed to be baptized if she prays and
finds what we taught is true.
Saturday we watched conference in the Arlington
building. We weren't with any of our
investigators, but when something stood out that was relative to them we would
text them and make sure they were listening!
Caitlin, Kristen, and Pete LOVED conference! In between sessions we ran to the Post Office
to mail some things home for Sister Chappell.
The office was closed but the self-serve was open. While there a woman came in and started
talking to us. We were walking out of
the Post Office and I realized I hadn't handed her a Mormon.org card! So we turned around and went back to give her
one. She said she could tell we knew
Christ by the light in our faces before we even gave her the card. Then she told us her son is a member of our
church. Here comes the biggest tender
mercy: her son is Brother Cano-the same family Sister Chappell
reactivated. She was so happy we knew
her son and was so grateful Sister Chappell had helped him come back to Christ. We left her with our card and she gave us
hers so we can come visit her again. She
is not YSA so we'll be referring her to the family ward, but it was perfect!
Pete and Sister Ramirez, and her daughter, came to watch
conference at the church before his baptism.
The baptism was beautiful. Pete
says he felt so warm and clean when he came up.
Even physical pain he has had for years was gone at that moment. It was beautiful! Then Brother Commander, the Arlington ward
mission leader, surprised us by saying Pete would be confirmed then instead of
waiting a week.
Sunday morning we watched conference in the Mandarin
building, where the YSA's meet, but there weren't any YSA's there. (Did ya'll love the Southern accent in the
closing prayer? It made us happy!) We
came home for lunch and then went to Sister Ramirez mom's house for the
afternoon session and dinner. It was fun
to see Pete so involved. He is still
working on getting names right though (Sanctuary=Chapel, President Munson or Monsoon=President
Monson, John Smith=Joseph Smith). Haha,
I forget how many names and terms are unique to our church. Before we left Pete was the one that said,
"We need to say a prayer before you go." He gave a beautiful prayer and asked for Sister
Chappell to have safe travels. We are so
excited to see what happens to the Ramirez family with the Priesthood in their
home. It is such a blessing!
Monday morning we took Sister Chappell to the mission
home at 7:15. Apparently there was some
confusion in the times because President Craig was in the middle of his morning
exercising when he answered the door.
oops! haha, we had a good laugh
about that though! And now I am here
writing to ya'll!
I hope ya'll were listening to Elder Ballard's talk! I would LOVE to hear what you are learning as
you study Preach my Gospel. It really is
an amazing book and as we study it I know we will be more prepared to share the
gospel. There were so many wonderful
talks and messages that were perfect! I
am super excited to read them all!
Have a blessed week!
Love ya'll!
Sister Murray
