Brandon's Baptism Week

October 23,2012

So this last week has been one of miracles. We had a new investigator that we taught 3 times in 2 days. His name is S. and he lives in this retirement home just down the street. I had met him some weeks earlier on an exchange with that missionary that taught me the importance of not being a robot of intensity.

In the first lesson he was really quiet and reserved, but he asked good questions. He says that he's been keeping track of "us" (Mormons) for a long time and that he's seen our church with the gold dome in Oakland California. At the end he thanked us and told us that we had lifted him up. In the second lesson we took him on a church tour and retaught about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. The spirit was so strong when  he said that he believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet that we committed him to a baptism date right then and there. We then took him to the temple visitors center later that night with B. We showed him about the temples and showed him that the church with the gold dome was actually a temple. We also watched a movie in the visitor's center about families that he said was "exciting!" When we went into the Temple Atrium (which is a very good tool to use in an investigator's conversion) he said that he felt "peaceful... and happy... and I don't know why." I testified to him that that was the holy ghost and that after he's baptized he can feel like that whenever he wants. He also said to Elder Belo later that the gout in his knee which hurts 24/7 went away when he went to the temple. The Spirit works wonders. B. of course was going crazy. He was overwhelmed with the amount of the spirit that was there. He's going to be ordained next week.

B.'s baptism went well. He chose me to baptize him because he told me that I was the "window to his happiness and conversion." It was a beautiful experience, but that's only the beginning of his journey on his path beck to Heavenly Father. He's a great kid and is always anxious to learn more about God in spite of what may be going on around him.

So the F. family that I've been meeting with that I thought may be related to daddy's old roommate. Well buckle up, this is crazy. We went to their house this Sunday. He's totally open and welcoming of us, in fact he and his wife invited us over for dinner on the 4th. He's less active and his wife isn't a member. They have two kids named C. and C. They may not be members, but I feel the spirit more in their home than in some of our member's homes. They are honestly living all of the commandments and build upon the rock of our redeemer. (They teach world history with a Biblical stance to their homeschooled children, and the kids can honestly tell us the entire order of what happens in the Bible. It's crazy. I can't do that!) We got to talking and J. pulled out a picture while he was telling me about his crazy story about his family history and how that relates to his brother-in-law. The picture he pulled out was a wedding picture. Instantly I recognized the groom.

"wait, you know this guy?!" I asked

"Yeah, that's my brother, B." he said

"He was one of my ballroom teachers at BYU!"

"Oh, so do you know his wife?"

"Totally!"

"What's more than that, my sister catered that wedding! Surefire Pizza is my sister's business!"

"No way! Oh my gosh, that food was so good!"

So Melissa, thanks for helping me do missionary work through Surefire Pizza. You have no idea how people respond to that dance video out here.

Instantly I started to see family resemblances. It was crazy. I know that I felt a reason for me to go to his place when I was looking through the ward list. I'm pretty sure he still has a testimony. I know that we are there for a reason. Hopefully we can start teaching the wife sometime soon.

Other than that I've been learning a lot about the importance of working through things with your companion and not in spite or around things. It really helps you to grow closer and you feel a connection that I honestly can't describe in any other way except rewarding, and special.

I love you all. I've got to go, but I'll end with this. This is but a small moment in our lives as eternal beings. Your burdens can and will be lightened if you search and ponder the scriptures, pray for forgiveness or help, and then listen, waiting to act on the feelings and knowledge that the Holy Ghost will give unto you. You specifically are a special soul. You have a very specific job or role that Heavenly Father wants you to perform in this world. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.

Elder Lloyd :)

 

The Rain Came Down... and the Floods go up Hill

October 16, 2012

So this last week was interesting. We finishing teaching B. (17) all the things he needs to know in order to pass his baptismal interview. I don't know if I've talked about him before. The Spanish elders found him tracting and then passed him on straight to us. He's a teenager with a love for fantasy and sci-fi. Of course I told him about Orson Scott card. When we talked to him during our first appointment we were impressed not to teach him the first lesson (the restoration) but to teach him the Plan of Salvation. We had found out that in the week since the Spanish elders had come by and our appointment that he had read all the way to page 131 in the book of Mormon. Say what???? yeah. The kid is a reading machine. As we finished the plan of Salvation we asked him how he felt about it all, and he said "scared actually." We asked why, and he said that he had "five balls on a chain of sin and misdeeds that were weighing him down." Instantly we taught him about the priesthood and baptism and committed him to a baptismal day of October 20th. Yeah, baptismal date on the first lesson. It was awesome!

We later found out that he wasn't comprehending anything of what he was reading, and we read 3 Nephi 11 with him in one appointment. After that he said that he wanted to restart from the beginning and actually get depth out of it. We didn't even prompt him to say that....

When he watched conference, he told us that he needed to tell us a truth.  Instantly Elder Belo and I got a little afraid but confident that we could overcome any challenge that he put in front of us. B. then began to tell us about his girlfriend and how she had been in the hospital two years ago and told him that she loved him and that she wanted him to keep praying about the church. She died a few days later and ever since then, missionaries have been knocking on his door every other Monday for two years. Finally he let them in when the Spanish elders came around about a month ago. I knew at that time that we had been truly inspired to teach the Plan of Salvation first and not the restoration.

I can literally see the difference in B. He's standing up straighter, quick with a smile, and is already teaching people about the law of chastity and telling people that he's a Mormon even though he has yet to be baptized this Saturday. I love this kid. I can't wait to take him and a less active to the temple visitors center this Friday.

I can testify that this gospel changes peoples lives. It makes them happy, confident, and proud. It makes them bold, and friendly, and brave. Why? Because this gospel radiates of eternal happiness. It's not called the Plan of Happiness for nothing. There is a connection with our Father above that cannot come through any other means. The Priesthood has been restored to the earth and God gave us the Book of Mormon through the prophet Joseph Smith to prove it. Ask Him, and he'll let you know the same way that he let me know. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

PS It rained on Friday and yesterday. After biking for 3 1/2 hours I was so soaked I stopped caring. I'm just getting used to being wet. And when there's rain there's wind, and the wind makes the water go up hill in sheets.

PPS. I got to see the coast yesterday in the rain. I took some really cool pictures that I'll have to send to you some other time.

I love you all.