Melba was Baptized and Other End of Summer Miracles!

Holy cow. This week was crazy. Ok. That phrase "holy cow" is actually really strange... I'm going to try to eliminate that from my vocabulary. Anyway. It doesn't change the fact that this week was nuts.

So I suppose we will start with the end of the week! Melba was baptized!!! Yay!!!! To be honest I was kind of holding my breath a little bit. We had a lot of things we needed to teach her and things kept getting thrown in the way. Trailer park drama, and she had a huge family emergency on Thursday that we were afraid would derail everything, but it didn't. I love Melba because she was like "I am getting baptized, nothing is going to stop me." She was so excited.  My angel companion, Sister White, had to teach tithing, Sabbath day, and the ten commandments the hour before the interview by herself because I was at a leadership conference for all the mission leaders. So basically this little paragraph can't really describe how stressful it was to arrange interviews and schedules and try to figure out when to teach everything so that Saturday could go smoothly. Let's just say Sister White's 4.5 pound bag of candy corn is not 4.5 pounds anymore.

But Saturday came and it was perfect. Melba's baptism was completely perfect. Melba came, all dressed in white. White pants, white shirt, white furry collar necklace... it was so classic Melba. We love her so much. Her husband came and her son and some of the Smallwood family, including Tracy who we are also teaching. It was a miracle because we weren't sure if any of those people were going to come and they did! We had a lot of great support from the ward as well. It was amazing. The spirit was there and Melba was so happy. My very favorite thing is to get to see someone right after they are baptized and to ask them how they feel. Melba said she felt like "a huge load of garbage had been taken away." Ah! I love that! It's amazing.  She also said "I feel pure in here" pointing to her heart.

 It has been absolutely amazing to watch her grow and progress. She has always had a desire to follow Jesus Christ but now she knows how to really do that. I have seen a marked difference in who she is... her happiness and the peace that she feels in life. It is amazing. This is REAL! The atonement is real! I love it!

I have been so grateful this week for all of the amazing people that I have met on my mission. It is amazing to come into a new area-- knowing no one, and within a month have met people that I love dearly and will be friends with forever.

I hit my year mark this week. We did some crazy stuff... not really but Sister Wilson and I came out together so we did have some talks about the "good ol' days" in the MTC. I was freaking out about the fact that I have been a missionary for one year. I will spare the sentimental reflections this week because this week was so crazy and I didn't even really get a chance to sentimentally reflect.

I know this entry is 100 years long. August has been such a great month! Here is on last end of August miracle. On Sunday, as a mission, we fasted for a finding fall, to find those that have been prepared to accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I was personally so excited about this fast because I know that miracles will happen. President Keyes has us do these fasts when it is time for miracles, they always come. So we fasted. The very evening after finishing our fast we went to visit an older couple in our ward whose grandchildren have come to live with them. Only Meredith was home and so we had a great time visiting with her. She is adorable, and hilarious, as most 13 year olds are. We are in the beginning of our conversation and she is just like "oh, I want to get baptized! I keep going back and forth about it but I really think I want to but I don't even really know anything about the Church of Mormon." So there you go. She is awesome and so excited to build her faith and "nourish her tree." Talk about the perfect end of August miracle! We are so blessed. So so blessed.