We had a baptism yesterday! It was a very simple and powerful service, and I am so happy for the persons who got baptized (whose names I can't use on my blog... so that's why it sounds super awkward) ~
It's been a CRAZY week, but our area is now twice as blessed! Overnight we had double the area to work in, double the investigators, double the baptismal dates and double the work. We are a very tired and a very happy trio.
I'm going to tell you a short story from one of our investigators, who I love! He is 18-years-old. He just got to the States from South America and almost immediately met the missionaries upon arriving. He has prayed to know the Book of Mormon is true, and he got his answer and knows it's true. He does not want to be baptized, though. He thinks there are too many rules and that it will be really hard without his family. He's right that it will be hard without his family.
He had a dream one night. In his dream he was on a deserted island with his family. He had spent his whole life on this island, and was very content there. One day, a ship with two missionaries landed on his island. They told him that they were from a bigger, more beautiful island and that he could come with them and experience how wonderful it was for himself. He knew they were telling the truth. He knew the other island was better than he could even imagine.. but leaving this island would mean leaving behind his family and, really, everything he has known for his entire life.
His dream is a perfect metaphor for how many persons making the choice to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints feel. Being baptized changes their lives forever. It requires leaving the comfortable island they've called home for years (maybe their whole lives) and taking the difficult journey on a ship in order to find the bigger, better and more beautiful island.
As a missionary I invite others to come and see for themselves the peace and joy and comfort and happiness I have found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not here to force anyone to do anything. I am only here to share the paradise of an island I have found in my life.
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