Elder Benjamin Michael Conover Mission Blog : Week 72: New Year's Resolution: Baptism!

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all had an awesome New Years, and that everyone is safe. This
week was another crazy one, and the best part was that Maria got baptized!

First off, this week, we basically did only baptismal stuff at the expense
of other proselyting activites, but it all payed off at the end of the week.

So, on Thursday, the day we had set for Maria´s baptismal interview, Elder
Plumb and I sat down to do weekly planning. In the middle of it, we got a
call from Maria, asking if we could stop by her house that day, and she
seemed really sad. I asked if she was okay, and she said ¨No,¨ which is
not exactly what you wanna hear from someone who is about to get baptized.

We dropped everything and ran over to her house, all the way praying for
help to comfort her, and I felt calm after offering the prayer, and I knew
that it would be Okay.

As we sat down, she explained that she feels bad about how she still feels
like she hasn't forgiven the member family that attacked her, and that she
wants to be able to forgive. And, she asked us why it seemed like she had
a lot of problems, and she was doing the right things, and the other family
isnt, and doesn't have many problems.

We pulled out Mosiah 17, and talked about how Alma was doing the right
things, but had to flee the presence of the wicked king Noah, or he would
be killed, and it seemed like nothing bad was happening to the Wicked King
Noah, even though he was incredibly evil. But, Alma, in the end, becomes a
prophet and finds joy, while Noah dies by fire. The lesson went really
well, and Maria felt so much better.

Before the baptism, I sat down and called every member I could find, to
invite them to the baptism, and they almost all said yes, so we were super
excited about the support that Maria was gonna have.

Then, came the day of the baptism. We had six missionaries there, and we
were waiting for all the members to come. Six members came, and one was
from another branch. It was SO disappointing. We had probably 40 people
commit. As the baptismal service started, inside I felt so disappointed.
I felt like it couldn't be as special for Maria, since no one showed up.

Then, we got to do the baptism. Maria and I got into the water, and I got
to baptize her. As she came out of the water, she stopped, and closed her
eyes, not moving at all, for about 20-30 seconds. It was such a peaceful
moment. As we got out of the water, I asked her how she felt, and she
responded, ¨Exactly the way I hoped that I would feel.¨ In that moment,
all of the disappointment seemed to melt from my body, and it was such an
amazing moment.

Funny

After the baptism, as I went to go change, I realized that I had forgotten
another shirt, and I was all wet. #missionaryfail

Elder Plumb´s zipper broke on his pants, so he now has to walk around with
5 or so saftey pins to hold his pants closed. It is so funny to see haha

I am so grateful for the example of Maria and for her courage to stand
against the adversary. The Lord lives, and he Loves us!

Love You All,

Elder Conover