This week was kind of crazy, but really great. On Thursday I had my first baptism! It was quite the experience. It was so fun to see this young man take such a huge step. It was interesting to see the difference in him and his countenance and that of a girl we taught the next day, who firmly believes that we have absolutely no responsibility to do anything other than accept Christ as our Savior. What she is missing is what it actually means to "accept" Christ. Anyway, I could rant about that for a while, but suffice it to say, I don't know that we will be teaching her for very long. You can't teach a person how to return to live with God again if they think they've already sealed the deal. Anyway, one of our investigators, Nicole from Barundi, came to the baptism. She's been reluctant to be baptized any time soon, but has wanted to do it eventually. After being at the baptism and feeling the power of it all, she could barely speak. She told us afterwards that she HAD to be baptized, and soon. She didn't want to wait anymore. So, we have another baptism this Friday! Super exciting. The only downside to all of these baptisms is that it means we don't have as many investigators to teach...BUT we will have lots of recent convert lessons! All is well.
We did splits on Tuesday, which was a lot of fun. The new missionary and I were together in the YSA and Sister Palmer went with the other senior companion (they were MTC comps) to the family ward. It was a lot of fun. I was senior companion for a day! It was fun to have the reins a bit. It helped me see that I do indeed know what I am doing, and while there is still SO very much to learn, I can do this. It was exciting. Oh yeah, our mission president's wife came to Ottowa for our baptism! It was fun, she spent most of the day with us, first at the soup kitchen we work in then at the baptism.
We met a catholic missionary on the bus the other day, and he invited us over for brunch on Sunday. We went, and there were about twelve other people there, too. They all are involved in the catholic missionary effort or school system or other programs. Since there were SO many people there, we didn't really teach a lesson, we just engaged in conversation and it was really interesting. I am discovering that I am not very articulate. Or aggressive (one g?). I know what I believe and how I feel, but vocalizing it, especially in a large group where everyone has LOTS to say and is so much better at saying it, I didn't come off as sounding very intelligent. That's okay, though. The gospel is simple, so I shouldn't have to feel like I have to be eloquent or persuasive. Bear simple, strong testimony. That's my job. And there have been many people that were "slow of speech" that did lots of good, so I just need to be patient with myself and figure out my teaching style better. My companion did a semester in Jerusalem and other such things and is really scripture-smart, so I keep feeling like I have to keep up and teach like she does. Nope. I just need to teach like myself. Learning and adapting always, of course, but I really need to quit feeling like my progress and effectiveness is related to those around me. Anyway, I must go now. I love, love, love you all. Sometimes its hard to be a missionary. ALWAYS its wonderful.
Avec amour,
Hannah
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