Bafetized

Our  dear sweet Cory and Riannah were baptized this week!!! ("Bapfatized is how Riannah says it:) The baptism was a little bit well, we are just glad that it actually happened! There were a lot of nerves and a lot of prayers involved. When we met with Cory and Riannah on Friday night, we were going over some of the logistics of the baptism and Cory announced that he no longer wanted to get baptized (yikes!) He just wanted to wait until he was about 20 or something so that he could wash away more of his sins. SO in a panic, we re taught baptism and confirmation and went over the blessings of being a member of the church. Turns out that he was just really nervous to be baptized in front of a lot of people (but talk about a good way to give the missionaries a heart attack!!). So the next day at the baptism we a running around a little bit like crazy people trying to make sure that everything is ready and good to go! Riannah puts on her jumpsuit and has a MELT DOWN. It was crazy! She was so excited until she put the jumpsuit on... then it was all downhill from there. Apparently the white jumpsuit that makes you look kind of like a marshmallow was not what she wanted to be wearing. I don't think she even smiled in any of the pictures that we took. At this point, Sister Barrett and I are basically panicking. I am just praying so hard that they do not let their nerves overcome them and keep them from making this sacred covenant. Turns out everything went well :) and they both decided to smile for us post baptism! BUT... it doesn’t end here. They were late to church on Sunday. The opening song starts and Sister Barrett and I run out of the chapel to call them and make sure that they are still coming to church!! They pulled up right as the opening prayer ended. We walked in and sat down with their family (their two older brothers came to see the confirmation..... they are next ;) Just as they sat down, they were called to go up to the front of the chapel to be confirmed. Talk about perfect timing!!!! Cory is now working on preparing to receive the priesthood. The change that has taken place in this 8 year old and 12 year old is amazing!! Before we met with Cory he had never prayed before and now in just a couple of weeks he will hold the priesthood!!!

I am sure that none of you really care all that much about the numbers in my area. But this week was the first week that we met the standard of excellence in its entirety! Actually we exceeded it in every standard :D We were so blessed! I would love to take the credit and say that it was my mad planning skills ;) But I know that it was Heavenly Father, he helped us be where we needed to be when we needed to be there!! We were able to have 12 member present lessons, 3 investigators at church (our prime two were no longer investigating at church.. so this really was a miracle!), 4 with a baptismal date, 5 new investigators and 29 total lessons!!! And we also had time to serve some of our investigators too. Talk about a fantastic week!!!!!!!! Oh and 2 baptisms and confirmations to top it all off :) Can I say I LOVE CARMEL!!!!

Colin and Emma are doing fantastic! They have a date now!! And came to church again (3 Sundays in a row!) They will be baptized on March 29th. Their mom gave us a call yesterday because she just wanted to express how grateful she was for all of the changes that she has seen in her family. Emma went to bed with a slight fever, and she said that on normal circumstances that she would have called off church the night before. She said that that thought to not go to church didn't even cross her mind! Instead she asked us to pray for Emma and that if she still wasn’t feeling well that they would just sit in the back for sacrament meeting and go home after (which is not the family that I met at all before!) Emma felt fantastic in the morning and they were able to attend all of the meetings :) The spirit in their home now is strong. They said that their

next goal is to go to the temple as a family :)

On Sunday, the E family brought their friend with them to church. Her name is Tealeigh. She is 18 years old and hasn’t been to a church since she was 11. She came a couple of weeks ago and we talked with her a little and set up a time to meet but she canceled when she got sick. We were happy and a little surprised to see her at church again! During Sunday school she leaned over and whispered to me that she felt really impressed that she should be baptized! We met with her after church and she now has a date for April 26th! Again another miracle from a member :)

This week was fantastic to say the least :)

Love <3 Sarah