I got to baptize Beverly!

"This week was a good week! We had a baptism and some solid lessons! Beverly got baptized Saturday. It was quite the process. Her boyfriend has cancer and so she was down in Alexandria all week. She needed to be interviewed by our Zone Leaders before she got baptized on Saturday. Luckily, our Zone Leaders like in Alex and were able to go to the hospital and interview her down in the waiting room. Not the normal interview setting, but it happened! So, she was baptized on Saturday and I was the one that was blessed enough to baptize her! She was deathly afraid of water, so after a few minutes of talking her down, I was able to help her down into the water. She was scared, but she knew what she had to do and therefore she wanted to do it! I was extremely nervous as well! But, I said who knows how many silent prayers that everything would go smoothly and I would only have to perform it once. It was such an amazing experience! I have really grown to love Beverly--mainly because she is the fruits of our labors, meaning that Elder Davidson and I contacted her, taught her, I baptized her and yesterday, Elder Davidson confirmed her a member of the church and she received the Holy Ghost. Being able to see the change in her from beginning to end is such a blessing. I'm so thankful to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hand and be a part of something so significant and life-changing!"

"I've Been Chosen!"

There were two exciting moments this week! First, we had a mission conference down in New Orleans with Elder Bednar! It was so awesome. He didn't give a talk, more of a discussion with us. So, missionaries were able to stand up and literally talk with an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ! It was awesome! I actually stood up and said something about what I learned and he said, "Thanks, Elder, that's a great insight." I nearly fainted. Hah! But, it was awesome. We talked about how we need to act with faith. The spirit was so strong there and I am so grateful to be able to witness the in person testimony of an Apostle! The last hour was a really neat experience. He actually opened it up to questions. he said that this will probably be the only time in our lives that we will be able to ask an apostle of the Savior any questions we wanted to, so don't ask stupid questions! Haha! It was cool!! We learned how the new prophet is chosen and then set apart. And also what the daily life of an apostle entails. So, we learned a lot.

The other cool moment this week is that on Saturday we are having two baptisms! And guess who they both chose to baptize them...ME! So, that's why I said, I've been chosen!" I'm kinda scared, but extremely excited. I'll be sure to send pictures!

Brother Larry Austin Got Baptized After Decades of Investigating the Church!

After investigating the church for nearly 40 years, Brother Larry Austin got baptized on 12/31/2011. Sister Leone of the Many, LA ward sent us this photo and an email saying, "Just attended a wonderful baptismal service. Brother Larry Austin was baptized...his wife has waited a long time for this!"

From Carter's email:

"Larry got baptized this week! My first baptism! It was definitely a baptism to remember! The baptism was at 11:00am, but the hot water heater at the church was broken. Elder Davidson and I went there two hours early to check it all out. We started to fill up the font and it was ice cold. Larry is a very old man and had heart surgery a little over 2 weeks ago! So, if he got in the freezing water we might have killed him! So, we started boiling water on the stove in the kitchen to hopefully get the water warm enough for him to get in. When they started the baptism, it was still pretty cold. We were praying like crazy that the water would be warm enough. Then the time for him to get baptized came. He went to get dressed, but none of the clothes would fit! So, that gave us more time to boil water! After trying on about 10 pairs of white pants, the very last one barely fit! It was truly an answer to our prayers! It worked out perfectly so he could get baptized in warm enough water! Like I said, a baptism to remember!

"Another cool thing that happened this week was that while we were talking with the Bishop in his office, this guy walked down the hall. He was a less active member that had been away from the church for a long time, He had served a mission, but for one reason or another his whole family fell away. He cam in and shook everyone's hand with a smile on his face and said with tears in his eyes, "Could I get a blessing?" We all looked at each other in shock. The Bishop gave him a powerful blessing. When he stood up afterward, he had tears running down his face. he was able to humble himself and ask for help. I'm sure the Lord will pour out blessings upon him for it! Elder Davidson and I were able to do some service for him today. We helped him cut down some big ole trees in his yard, and because of that service, we were able to make a solid friendship with him which will hopefully bring him and his family back to church! It was truly the work of the Lord!"

Christmas Breakfast at Sister Leone's House