I've talked about being in missionary heaven before. Now I know I was only in the terrestial kingdom. This week I had a CELESTIAL experience.
Yes, that just happened. I can definitely be missionary cheesy for 4 and a half more months.. enjoy it! :)
So... the week was actually pretty intense. Baptism weeks ALWAYS are. Without fail. Here's the thing this time, though. Satan knows that London is SO strong and literally nothing was going to stand in the way of her becoming baptized, so he just decided to attack Sister Fox and I and ALL of our other investigators. So that was cool, but it was ALL WORTH IT (sorry other investigators...)
Thursday night at 10 o clock we found out that Tony would be able to baptize his sister on Friday. HALLELUJAH!! I thought I knew happiness in that moment, but I had no idea how I would feel when it actually happened.
Before we get there, though, let's back track a little bit. My second or third day in the mission field I met a recent convert, Tony. Sister Parker and I taught him every single week that I was trained and he came teaching with us at least once a week. As you can imagine, we got pretty close. The week before I left we were finally able to get into his home and teach his mom and sister. Well, mostly his mom. His sister usually hid in the back room whenever we came around. The night before we left we had a powerful lesson with their family and I was sure they would be baptized while I was gone.
I came back and they weren't-- not even being taught! What?! Sister Denison and I began teaching Tony's mom again and tried to talk to his sister, but she was pretty stand-offish with us. Tony's mom (Erica) became pretty busy with work and other things and gradually we stopped meeting. Then, just over a month ago, we started working with their family again. I don't even know how!! One day Tony wasn't home, but London let us in anyway!! London who usually wouldn't say 5 words to us. She showed us Tony's baptism pictures and we had an awesome discussion about how she has seen the Gospel change his life. That day was her turning point and from there we were teaching her multiple times a week. It just happened! Heavenly Father prepared her heart and everything just kind of fell into place.
Eventually we found out that London had secretly been reading the Book of Mormon all along. Heavenly Father had also prepared her by helping her quit smoking, get out of a bad relationship, and softening her heart in other ways. She was SO PREPARED. As we taught her, a visible light grew in her countenance. She became more kind and open and more patient with her children. She fell in love with the Book of Mormon and found herself waking up early before her children just to read.
I have seriously never seen someone so prepared or so excited to become baptized. I think the thing that strengthened her the most, though, was her focus on the temple. From the day she decided to be baptized she knew she wanted to go to the temple as soon as possible. She knew that baptism was a stepping stone to get to the temple-- not a finish line.
This past Friday night I had one of the most sacred and spiritual experiences of my mission-- of my life!-- watching Tony go down into the waters of baptism with his sister and enabling her to step onto the path toward eternal life as an eternal family. The ward was so supportive and really embraced and loved her. They gave beautiful talks and a beautiful musical number. It was the perfect night.
And it didn't end there! The next day London was able to go to the temple and be baptized for 11 others. She loved it and we're already planning our trip to go back together after my mission! :)
I can't express my love for this Gospel. I know that it changes my life every single day and it is truly beautiful to watch it change the lives of others. It is so true.
xoxox
Sister Rolfe
Pictures:
Slumber party with my daughter and great grandaughter! Every good grandmother has a car seat :)
Sister Spa Day!
Best Friends :)
London!
London and Tony!
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