So this week was a little non-traditional to say the least. Our mini mission candidate was dropped off on Monday night, and then on Tuesday we had our Zone meeting until 2 PM and Bible Study Group that night. So his first day with us was planned out and fairly busy. Then on Wednesday, Elder Andrew woke up puking, so we had to call that a sick day and send the young man with Elder Murphy for the day. Then Thursday was our weekly planning which always takes up a big chunk of the day. Friday we went on exchanges, and Elder Hale (who was on exchanges with Elder Andrew) woke up sick that day, so they had to send Chris with Elder Murphy again. On Saturday we had an area blitz in the morning and the baptisms in the afternoon. Hopefully he still had a good time and learned something about what mission life can be like.
Because of all those exciting events Elder Andrew's Senior Week wasn't really much of a Senior week. So maybe we'll just postpone that to this week... we'll see. Because of the two sick days we weren't really able to meet with very many of our investigators either. It seemed that all our appointments were scheduled for Wednesday or Friday, so they all had to be cancelled and couldn't be rescheduled until this week.
But the baptism was super good! It was kind of stressful though. The Tongan Ward was having a baptism at 1:00 and we had ours scheduled for 2:00. We had a blitz that morning, so we left the Stake Center at noon to go grab some lunch and some items we'd left at home. We arrived back at the Stake Center only to discover the Tongan baptism had not started yet and it was already 1:15. So we paced the halls and keep giving the other Elder's questioning looks until 1:45 when their baptismal candidate finally showed up! But luckily they were able to have their baptismal service, except for the ordinance itself, in a different room. So everything worked out fine.
The stress of the delayed Tongan baptism distracted us from the fact that the Dotson's didn't show up until like 1:50, which is very unusual for them, they are normally early or on time and we had told them to be there at 1:30. But they arrived with a whole caravan of people and we took pictures outside. Jacqueline did not want to be wearing a jumpsuit for her pictures or baptism so she actually found a plain white dress she could wear instead, and they found baptism clothes for Edwin and Emily too. So they showed up at the church already dressed in white. The baptismal service itself went great. Two of Jacqueline's friends were the speakers and they did an amazing job and they had gifts for the family. Ken had purchased a set of scriptures for Emily and the Auxiliaries had gifts for them all as well. So they left with a big bag full of stuff. The baptisms went off without a hitch and they all changed pretty quickly, so Elder Andrew and I didn't have to stretch the Restoration message into a 20 minute long lesson. Jacqueline's mom was there which was really good. She is Catholic and isn't quite sure what to make of Mormons.
The next day at church all of their friends came with them for the confirmations, though they had to leave after Sacrament Meeting so they could get on the road to travel home. Then we went over to the Dotson's for dinner that night, along with Ken who had been invited as well. We taught a short lesson (out of some brand new pamphlets) about scripture study, and Ken mentioned a 40 day Book of Mormon reading challenge. So now all 5 of us (Brother & Sister Dotson, Ken, Elder Andrew & me) are committed to read the entire Book of Mormon in 40 days. It will be interesting to see if we all make it through. We'll see how it goes.
Transfer calls are this weekend, and they just made Elder Andrew the designated driver this month, so I feel like I'm probably on my way out of this area. The Ward is in a good place; there are actually 2 ward members that know people who are ready and willing to take the lessons. We will hopefully start that process this week and they can be baptized next transfer. So I wouldn't be leaving the area devoid of promising investigators if I do get transferred . . . . .
See you soon,
Elder Cornaby
"Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work." -Gordon B. Hinckley