It Was Seriously the Best Baptism I've Had in my Whole Mission

06/09/2014

Well, this week was pretty awesome. Jonathan got baptized! And it was seriously the best baptism I’ve had in my whole mission.  The bishop was there, we had members to give little talks, and everything went fine.  His mom even came and she’s not a member and we are starting to teach her now. He was ordained in the Aaronic Priesthood as a priest on Sunday too.  So yeah, that was pretty much the highlight of my week.

06/07/2014 - Jonathon's Baptism

We had planned to have two baptisms, unfortunately, the other didn’t happen.  But it should happen a little later in the month. We have two investigators who have been really awesome reading the scriptures, praying, and everything, but they never came to church.  But they came this Sunday and we have a baptismal date with them for the 28 of this month!  We have also have the mother of Samir, a youth we baptized like two months ago, who wants to be baptized now too.  But that will be some time later. 

So everything is going along here.  Unfortunately, I believe I will have changes this Wednesday and I just might leave Cerro Verde.  So we will see what happens.  I really want to stay and be here for these baptisms, but I also would like to start over in a new area, so we will see.

I just want to share something that my Mission President shared with us in a zone conference we had recently; just a short quote about Joseph Smith.  Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said this about the Prophet:

“With his great faith and trust in God, Joseph had an insurmountable optimism. He knew the truth, and the truth made him free – free from fear, free from doubt, and free from pessimism. He said, ‘If I were sunk in the lowest pit of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top.’”

“Now, think of how this attitude of optimism could apply to you. When you face challenges and are tempted to be discouraged, think about this attitude of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and try to learn why he was so positive and optimistic even when he confronted serious problems, probably more serious than the ones that you or I are facing now. May the Lord bless you always to remember your blessings and to recognize that He is with you! And may that knowledge strengthen you and cause you to be happy!”

I really liked the quote. God will never forget us in all our trials and He will help us if we have faith in him and keep going.  We must always have faith and keep going. I know I don’t have a very positive attitude sometimes. I’m a pessimist, its true.  But I know that I need to have more faith that God will be there always helping and everything will come out ok.  I hope that each one of us can have the same faith, and that we can let that knowledge strengthen us and allow us to be happy in every moment of every day, no matter the challenges we face. With God as our guide, which he will always be, we can overcome anything.  I love you all and hope you can continually exercise this faith and be happy! And I’ll work on it too! I know this church is true and I’m so glad I have the opportunity to learn and grow and help teach the gospel to the people who have been prepared and need it.  I know this gospel has power to change lives and I know that it blesses the lives of those who have the gospel and live it too.

Love you all, Elder Ollis