Week 22: All is Well in Zion!

Sister Foster, Elle, and Elder Kappel

Well we had an amazing week! We were able to have four baptisms this last week! That was super exciting and stressful! I thought it was going to be a piece of cake and that everything was going to fall into place! But that was a lie, it is a lot harder than I realized but everything worked out for the better! It all started when Sister Foster and I went to the church to start to fill the baptismal font. That was a lot of fun, we got the water to the right temperature and the right speed, and then I saw it! A spider was right there in the font trying to climb up the wall to get to safety. I was going to try and kill it but that didn't work out, the water already covered the ground and I couldn't reach it from anywhere else. So we watched it try and climb up the side. There are spiders everywhere in Washington! I thought that there were a lot in Utah...no there isn't at all! 

Any-who we started to fill the font, set up all the chairs, and get the Restoration Movie ready; and do all of this by the time Michael and Laurie showed up! We had a couple more things we had to talk to them about and so they came early. They showed up in their jeans and a tee-shirt. It made me remember why I love them so much! But we got everything finished and got them in their baptism clothes, and it was about 15 minutes before the service was to start and Heather and Rogelio still weren't there. So we tried calling them and no one answered. So we sat and waited and waited and waited. Then about 20 minutes after two o'clock they came running through the door. Well right behind them were President and Sister Bonham which made my heart drop right to my stomach. Not because I don't love them and didn't want them there, but because I wasn't expecting them to be there at all. So they went in and sat down. Sister Foster and I went and were helping Heather and all of them get changed and ready. Well even though we had already tried on the jumpers they didn't want the ones we had set aside and so we were running back and forth trying to get the right one for them. So by the time we got all of this figured out we started half an hour late. Which if that is the least of our worries I am okay and I can handle that! 

Everyone got changed, the program started, and when it got quiet for the prayer there it was everyone could hear it. The water was draining! WHAT! REALLY! Oh well as long as there is enough water for them to lay down in it and be covered then all is well. Luckily that is normal and so no one was worried yet they didn't inform us of the water draining issue until the end. We sat down and started to enjoy the program when it hit me! It hit me like a wall of bricks...I forgot to get the spider out of the water. So when we are in heaven and there is a spider walking around DO NOT KILL IT! He was baptized and has every right to be there, even though I hate spiders so much. We decided to name it Tom and well he was baptized and so he is now a part of our ward family. I think he is already in heaven cause after it was all over I looked in the water and is seemed as though he wasn't able to make it, RIP Tom we will be sure to keep his family in your prayers.

It was a beautiful baptism. We had a lot of support from the ward, other missionaries, and President and Sister Bonham! 

On Sunday we luckily were able to move to 11 o'clock church! It is so nice! I won't have to hurry in the mornings, well until we have to start to teach Mission Prep Classes. They will be starting on the 17^th and I am super excited. When we got to church on Sunday there was Heather and Rogelio! They were early and waiting for us! Not the ideal situation but that made me so happy because they were not late! We had a spirit filled sacrament meeting and everyone in the ward was so excited to have four new members in the ward. 

Oh and little miracle! Summer our New Investigator who we are going to put on date this week showed up to church! She was supposed to be out of town with her mom and so she said she wouldn't be able to make it to church. Low and behold she showed but with her kids and her boyfriend who is a Less Active, along with his kids! It was a great day to be a missionary.

One note about Tom (The Spider), he wasn't confirmed and I am not even sure he was of age and so he won't be in heaven until his work is done for him. I will pray he was at least nine so I don't get in trouble in heaven.

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week. I will also try and figure out how to get the photos off my camera so that I will be able to send them to you! In all seriousness I probably won't be able to figure it out sorry. Oh and by the way there are some pretty good looking people in the photos! 

Elle and Sister Foster with their new Christmas Socks

Older picture of Elle and Sister Mahone cooking lunch for the Elders