Practicality (Week 25)

Hello my friends! Another fast week on the mish! Time flies and I hit 5 months in Hawaii! It's nuts haha. And my brother Hayden has 5 months until he goes home, that's the weirdest thing. Anyway good stuff this week. 

We have a friend, Melanie, who is so awesome! She's so ready to be baptized and she's loving everything! She asked us the other day how she can pay tithes because she wants to start giving if she's going to be a member anyway! She's literally so golden and I may have already mentioned this but she drove past a Book of Mormon on the side of the road in Idaho a couple of years ago and she turned around and picked it up. It was no coincidence at all! My companion said the other day, "Her story is the one that you hear about from other missionaries." And he's so right! 

We attended the baptism of a kid that I taught my first 2 transfers and as amazing as it was and as strong as the spirit was, there was a little bit of a funny part. Herman (the kid) still had his mask on in the font and the font wasn't filled very high in the first place, so when he went under he kind of just put his hand on his mask (to plug his nose I guess?), but also his feet kicked up and the water was so low that the Elder baptizing like laid him in the water and then had to pull him up, haha. So they did it again and this time he took off his mask and they made sure that he went under all the way. And the story gets even better... I was supposed to confirm him on Sunday but we got a text on Sunday from the Elders in his Ward and they said that he wasn't going to make it to church! Baptism without receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is half a baptism and is good for nothing. So this next Sunday when Herman is confirmed, the gates of the Celestial Kingdom will be unlocked and he can start his journey back to his Heavenly Father!

Herman

Love you all! Enjoy life, even when it sucks, just do your best to laugh about things. Read the Book of Mormon and know that your Redeemer, Jesus Christ lives!

-Elder Alec Shockley