I have to tell you all about my weekend. It was simply incredible, and incredibly busy. These are the things that made it so great.
It begins two Saturdays ago. Our Zone Leaders had asked all of us missionaries to set some goals as a companionship for the following week. Sister Valentine and I did and we prayed about these goals to make sure that it was what the Lord wanted for us. We revised them until they were thus: we would set three dates for people to prepare for baptism and we would have one baptismal service on Saturday, September 3. These goals were.... stretching it. To say the least. We did have one baptism date set, so we needed at least two more. As for preparing for and holding an actual service in a week... we had no clue how that was going to happen.
We taught as much as we could. We invited everyone we could think of to be baptized. It just wasn't happening. Confused? We were too. We also were having no luck with anyone accepting the invitation to prepare for baptism.
On the morning of September 3, Sister Valentine and I were anxiously awaiting a call from President McKee to find out if about transfers. The end of our second six weeks together was up, so we had a feeling that some kind of change was going to happen. Instead of hearing from President first off, we hear from his missionary assistants. One sister in our mission was from a small island and it was time for her to return home. Because there are very few connecting flights to her home, she left a few days early. Her mission companion now needed someone to stay with until she would receive her new companion on Tuesday. So, starting Saturday at noon, it was Sister Valentine, Sister Franson, and Sister Barnes for the weekend. While in the midst of this musical missionaries game, we did receive the call that Sister Valentine would stay in the area, but I would be leaving to serve in Gallatin with Sister Anderson. I was so excited! I knew Sister Anderson because she began her mission at the exact same time that I did. We went to missionary training together and everything. So, I had three days to pack and say goodbyes to people that I visited.
One of the families we chose to visit was the Chua family. Sister Chua is fantastic! Every time we visit her or even talk to her, she makes SURE that we are well fed. She has such a kind heart and tries to be involved in missionary work as much as she can be. We appreciate her so much for that.
Sister Chua's mother in law was staying with her for the week. We were especially excited when we found out about that because we had taught Grandma Chua in weeks past but she returned home to be closer to her other children. Grandma Chua loves the church and reads the magazines with talks from the Prophet and spiritual experiences that others share. She just had a few concerns when it came to being baptized and didn't feel ready. When we visited the Chua's we asked Grandma Chua again if she would like to be baptized, and the answer was the same. She didn't feel ready.
So, it was Saturday night, and no baptism was happening. I have to admit, my faith could have been stronger. It didn't feel right to not have a baptism that day, but who in the world would we baptize that night? The three of us sisters went home for dinner, and around 5:30pm one of the greatest miracles I have ever seen in my life happened. Grandma Chua called, and told us she wanted to be baptized! We set it up to be at 7:00 that night. This meant we had A LOT of phone calls to make. We were over to the church as fast as we could be. We and the elders were boiling pots of water and dumping them into the font to make the water warm for Grandma Chua (the hot water heater in our building is... less than functional). We assigned talks and prayers, picked out hymns, and a member of the bishopric came to conduct the meeting. It was so special. On such short notice, it was only close friends and family that came. It made it all the more meaningful because they knew how much this one baptism of an 82 year old matriarch meant to this family. I will never forget that night for as long as I live.
The next day at church, Grandma Chua's confirmation was beautiful. As missionaries though, we still had work to do! There were some new people at church and we had to make sure that they felt comfortable and cared about. One woman after church was so pleased with what she saw and felt that she came to us afterward and told us that she wanted to be a member of our church. Later that afternoon, we re-set a goal for one more person to be baptized. We were so excited, and so exhausted. When we were on the phone with President McKee, he pointed out to us that we set three dates in 24 hours, and one of those was the baptism that took place the night before. We didn't even realize it, but we had met our goal!
So, dear friends, is anything impossible for the Lord? I tell you now with all of my conviction that there is not one thing! The Lord does answer our prayers and gives us the desires of our hearts. Place with care your trust in Him.
"And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to and labor in the vineyard, with all your might. [A]nd the Lord of the vineyard also labored with them" Jacob 5:71-72
Have an action-packed day. The Lord will make it happen!
-Sister Franson
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