Adventures in Baptizing, and other lovely things

This week we had 3 baptisms. They were supposed to happen next week, but miraculously got moved up to this week.

That is the short version of what happened this week. Oh, what? You want more details? Okay, fine. 

It all started on Wednesday. We skipped on over to the appointment we had with Mikaela, Nicolas, and Bianka. 

(Brief bio of these 3: Bianka and Mikaela are sisters. Bianka is 8 and Mika is 13. Nicolas is their cousin and is 12. They all live together with Mika/Bianka´s dad and Nicolas´ mom. Nico´s mom is Esthela and is a member of the church who was inactive for 30 years but is finally active again. Mika and Bianka´s dad is religiously apathetic and kind of freaks me out to be honest. ha. Okay, just thought I would make that all clear because otherwise it gets confusing).

Our Wednesday appointment was supposed to be like any other one. Esthela always gives us food. We always have a nice lesson. They always tell us how excited they are to get baptized. We expected the same, but on Wednesday we were thrown a bit of a curveball. Esthela is scheduled to have an operation next week that will put her out for several months. This meant we had to either had to move the baptismal date up a week or postpone for an indefinite amount of months. We opted for the moving up option. It was kind of an obvious choice, except also a really stressful one because that meant we had approximately a billion things to teach in 3 days, plus schedule an interview, plus inform all the members, plus somehow squeeze in our other responsibilities in between. But we took a deep breath and got ready to work.

Teaching everything in 3 days was our first challenge. Firstly, we can only teach after 7pm because that is when they get home from school. Then they feed us dinner. Then we finally get around to the lesson. Also, Esthela really likes to talk and tell mega long stories and experiences every time we pause in the lesson. It´s good to hear all of her stories, but when we´re in a rush to get through material it is kind of a challenge. So we made it a goal to just teach straight through. We only asked questions for retention. Maybe it´s not the best teaching method, but it was necessary to get through all the lessons.

Our next challenge was thrown at us on Thursday. We got in there and Mikaela and Nicolas informed us they weren´t ready to get baptized. They said they weren´t ready and needed more preparation. We talked them through it and they were excited again. And then Esthela came in. We had the lesson and she said some intense things about how you have to be this new perfect creature after your baptism. I think it freaked them out because at the end of the lesson they were back to not wanted to get baptized. But cute Bianka was still excited about everything. Her resolve never waivered. Mika and Nico promised to pray about it and we said we would discuss it the next day.

So then Friday rolled around. The next day was supposed to be the baptism and we were sort of freaking out because we weren´t sure whether or not it would happen. I think I spent the entire day praying that everything that night would go well and they´d tell us they decided to get baptized. We taught them the final lesson and talked about baptism. Turns out they were freaked out at the thought that it was some mega huge intense thing that if they sinned after getting baptized they´d go straight to hell. On top of that the dad had been telling them that they weren´t prepared and that at such a young age they weren´t ready to make a decision as important as religion. The good news is we had this whole lesson without Esthela, so they were way more open about their doubts and worries and concerns. We talked to them about it. We read scriptures about it. They asked a thousand questions, and we answered as best as we could. The end result? They decided for sure to be baptized!

Now the only thing left was getting the permission slips for Mika and Bianka. We had tried and tried earlier in the week but the dad was never there. I was nervous that getting it signed now would open the door to him talking them out of getting baptized again. So we prayed and prayed and prayed as we walked over to the house for him to sign it. He has a really strong personality and kind of intimidates me, so I was more than a little nervous about it. We got there and waited until the very last possible moment we could be out of the house. He never showed up. We decided to just leave the permission slips with them and have them get the signature. We walked back to our apartment and I hardly slept all night. The interview was scheduled for the next morning (Saturday) and without the permission forms all of the work we did all week would have been in vane. We needed a miracle. 

And a miracle we got. We went over bright and early on Saturday morning and they were all ready to go, looking their absolute best for their interview. And guess what. They had the permission forms!!! I almost fell out of my seat with relief and excitement. The interview went great. Bianka wanted to review the questions a billion times before she went in, even though she could rattle off the answers without even thinking twice about it. 

The baptism was Saturday night. It was lovely. A few member showed up and my companion and I sang. Highlights from the baptism:
1. After they all changed into white Bianka looked around and said, "We all look like angels!" She was right.
2. All week long the dad said he would sign the paper, but he would never set foot in the baptism because he doesn´t believe in it. You can imagine everyone´s surprise when he walked through the door just as the service was about to start.
3. They all argued about who would go first. We resolved it by drawing numbers. They all were way anxious and adorable.
4. After the baptism I was in the bathroom helping Mika and Bianka get changed. They couldnt stop talking about how happy they were! The very best moment of all was when I asked Mika how she felt and she looked at me and exclaimed, "I feel like heaven is celebrating with me! It´s like the angels are singing!" Umm...seriously?! I don´t think I could have possibly felt any happier. 

So. Good baptism with a very long story behind it.

Other weekly highlights:
1. For the past couple weeks I have been feeling this crazy strong impression to go visit Gabriel, a boy we were teaching right when I very very first started the mission. He was about to get baptized, but it ended very bitterly and didn´t end up working out. But this week and last I couldnt get him out of my head! It was driving me crazy, so I finally decided to just suck it up and stop by to visit. My companion and I walked up the mountain to his house and knocked. His grandma opened the door and I think she was a little shocked to see us. I was a little shocked that we were standing on their doorstep. I was super nervous for some reason. I think it had a lot to do with fear of being rejected again. But we entered and made small talk for a while. I didn´t know why we were there or how I was going to bring up anything church-y to this boy who clearly told us before he walked nothing to do with the church. But somehow we brought it up. The verdict? He told us he feels like the catholic church is where he needs to be. I felt like I had been stabbed in the stomach and given two black eyes. We made a graceful departure and ended it as friends all around. There is nothing wrong with rejection...but I am still puzzled as to why I felt so strongly that we needed to go visit him. Maybe I was supposed to prove obedience. Maybe we were just planting a seed for later. I have no idea. Sometimes I get freaked out and feel like I am just making up my own ideas instead of following the spirit. I still don´t fully understand how to distinguish, but the conclusion I have come to thus far is that if a thought comes that inspires me to do something that is good, it doesn´t hurt anything to act on that thought. 

2. We are teaching this couple who the guy is a member, but his wife isn´t. karmen and Baron. She is way rad and loves everything about the gospel. The bad news? They aren´t married. More bad news? She just found out she´s preggo. Whoops. The process of them getting married won´t be easy because he has to finalize a divorce with his ex-wife. It is kind of a puzzle, but I have no doubt it will all work out. We went over the other night and were teaching. Let´s just say it was a really bad idea to eat half a watermelon before going over there because it made for a really uncomfortable teaching experience. 

3. I learned something about love this week. Love is wanting only the absolute best for someone and doing everything in your power so they can achieve it. Sometimes they accept it, sometimes not. But the thing about love - real, lasting, sincere love - is that it never quits. It just keeps moving and growing and evolving. But it never stops. Love is selflessness and sacrifice. I think one of the best parts about being a missionary is becoming part of people´s lives - loving them, listening to them, and sharing gospel treasures with them. I love it. Before the mission the thought of having to make small talk with a complete stranger horrified me. I hated it. But I am learning to overcome it by just loving people and realizing that we all have needs and we all want to be heard. I think it is an understanding of that that  keeps me going when situations get really awkward, when no one will let us in, or when I miss my comfortable life at home. Just love.

4. I had this beautiful moment of realization of my situation the other day. We were sitting outside behind this lady´s house, teaching her about the restoration. It was dusk and there was this little tiny calf grazing on the grass behind me and chickens were running around like crazy. My companion was explaining some beautiful truth and I looked around and there were fireflies everywhere dancing around in the sky! It took my breath away a little bit. I was struck like I never have been before with the reality that I am in Ecuador. I am a missionary. I wear the name of Christ on my chest. I bring people hope and truth. It was surreal and wonderful and overwhelming. My time here is so short (no matter how many times I say that it feels like it might never end). 

5. Last week Lady Gaga was mentioned in church. I felt like that was an ironic comment considering her recent appearance in Utah. 

6. Today we went to the Pumapunga Museum here because my companion wanted to check it out. Turns out it was the first time she has ever been to a museum in her life! Crazy, right?! I don´t know what I would do without museums. They are one of my favorite things on the planet. It was super rad because she could relate to all of the exhibits because she´s from Ecuador (Otavalo). She told me how her family had this same weaving machine at their house and explained how to use it. She told me about the traditional dances. She relished the music that was playing. It was fun to see it from her perspective. 

7. At the museum we were in the bathroom and I asked this lady who was at the sink where the toilet paper was. I was shocked when she responded to me in American english. She and her daughter in law were there visiting her son because he is teaching at a university here in Cuenca. They were from Ohio. They asked what I was doing and I explained that I was a missionary. I felt so awkward talking about it in English! It was bizarre. It was like my tongue couldn´t form words to explain my purpose here and it just sounded weird. I am glad to be serving spanish speaking.

Welp. My fingers are going to fall off soon and I am sure you´re bored of listening to my rambles. 

Love you all more than I love looking at exhibits of shrunken heads and other Ecuadorian mysteries. 

Until next week!

I ate the entire half of this watermelon by myself. Let´s just say it probably wasn´t the best idea in the long run, but totally worth it despite side effects.

Baños

This sunset is real. It blew me away.

Filling up the font for the baptism