Hey look! It's my blog!
Hey look! It's my first blog post!
Sydney made a blog for me!!! :)
She made it last week but I hadn't gotten on it until today because I thought Syd didn't tell me the password... low and behold, I didn't need one so I could've started last week...
So. EFE was baptized on Saturday!!!
Efe is a friend of mine from the genetics lab. He and I got to talking early in the semester. After one of our labs, Efe and I were talking as we headed towards the union. He asked what I was going to do since I was finished with classes for the day, and I told him I was going to go to the institute. He asked what it was and I began to tell him. I told him of the study rooms, computer, food, games, PEOPLE, and he thought I was talking about the Cellar. I told him to just come with me because he didn't have class either.
As we were walking up to the institute, he kind of stopped for a second. I kept telling him to follow me. He said he always thought it was an admin building. He said he had been walking past the institute for the last 4 years and had never walked inside. He liked it and he asked a lot of questions. I did the best I could and pretty much almost taught him the whole first lesson the missionaries share with people who begin learning about the church. I gave him a Restoration pamphlet, told him to read it, and that it would answer many of his questions. He said he would even learn from the missionaries!
I won't lie, I have been working on trying to find someone to learn about the church since March 2013, when I returned from serving a full-time mission, and I didn't think he would be the one. I have been looking for quite some time, and I truly thought I needed to keep looking. But, he stuck with it.
We would talk a little bit about it here and there after lab as we would walk to the institute. He started calling the missionaries "his sisters," which made me smile, even though sometimes he acted as if I didn't exist when they were around. :P Go figure.... treats me as if a little sister, but he told me I treat him as if I am his mother. :)
I could see a gradual difference in him as he began to learn more. He would open up a little more each time we talked... He told me about losing his mother and father, and how difficult that was on his family, but he also would talk about how he loves his siblings. Family is really important to him and I could tell when he would talk to me about his relationship with God.
He gradually began telling me about his tentative baptism date, and I thought he was just kidding with me. He picks on me a bit in lab, so I thought that is what he was doing with this date he set.
He kept pushing it back, but I found out it wasn't because he didn't believe in what was taught or that he was struggling with anything, but the only thing that was holding him back was the fact that he was missing church because of his job.
His date was approaching... and it was still set, still solid.
He asked me to talk at his baptism and it hit me that it was actually happening!
Saturday it happened. He wanted a ninja turtle cake, he got one. He wanted to be baptized, he did it. He didn't expect the support, but he got it.
It was truly incredible to see him in white. He was so excited, so happy. He has so many more friends now and he didn't even know it. He was all smiles that day. When he came up out of the water, he was just so stoked. It took him a while to get out of the font because he was hugging Luca and didn't want the moment to pass.
He was excited to share his testimony and his experience in finding the gospel.
He was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday, by Luca.
Mary was able to speak at the baptism as well, which I think was really good for her. She was nervous, and before the baptism didn't even want to do it, but she did it, and it was great.
I am so stoked that Efe chose to join the church. It was a fun journey, to watch him progress in the gospel. I remember when he was talking about his experience, I looked back at how I saw it, and I could see the Lord's hand in it all, through every invitation I extended to him, and anything about the church I talked about. It all had a purpose. I didn't open my mouth because I just wanted him to boost church numbers. I didn't open my mouth because I wanted to tell people I got someone to join the church... I had a calm, peaceful assurance, while watching him bear his testimony, that I had done what the Lord wanted me to do. I gave the Spirit opportunities to witness to Efe of Heavenly Father's plan, and His love for him. And Efe was smart enough to except such opportunities.
I am grateful to have put myself in a place where the Spirit could work through me. I do not want to take credit for Efe's baptism, but I will take credit for that recognition of opportunities Heavenly Father presented to me. I am grateful to know that I can still feel of His love for me. There have been many times since I have returned from the mission, where I have felt confused and nervous, nervous that I may not be able to recognize the Spirit as well as I did when I was a missionary. But after I have had such feelings, there has always been a calming assurance, whether through prayer or through experience, that has been yet another witness of the Lord's love, that He knows me, and that I can always feel His Spirit if I remain worthy of such a gift.
He is aware of me, of us all, and that's an epic blessing. Fact.
Hey look! It's my first blog post!
Sydney made a blog for me!!! :)
She made it last week but I hadn't gotten on it until today because I thought Syd didn't tell me the password... low and behold, I didn't need one so I could've started last week...
So. EFE was baptized on Saturday!!!
Efe is a friend of mine from the genetics lab. He and I got to talking early in the semester. After one of our labs, Efe and I were talking as we headed towards the union. He asked what I was going to do since I was finished with classes for the day, and I told him I was going to go to the institute. He asked what it was and I began to tell him. I told him of the study rooms, computer, food, games, PEOPLE, and he thought I was talking about the Cellar. I told him to just come with me because he didn't have class either.
As we were walking up to the institute, he kind of stopped for a second. I kept telling him to follow me. He said he always thought it was an admin building. He said he had been walking past the institute for the last 4 years and had never walked inside. He liked it and he asked a lot of questions. I did the best I could and pretty much almost taught him the whole first lesson the missionaries share with people who begin learning about the church. I gave him a Restoration pamphlet, told him to read it, and that it would answer many of his questions. He said he would even learn from the missionaries!
I won't lie, I have been working on trying to find someone to learn about the church since March 2013, when I returned from serving a full-time mission, and I didn't think he would be the one. I have been looking for quite some time, and I truly thought I needed to keep looking. But, he stuck with it.
We would talk a little bit about it here and there after lab as we would walk to the institute. He started calling the missionaries "his sisters," which made me smile, even though sometimes he acted as if I didn't exist when they were around. :P Go figure.... treats me as if a little sister, but he told me I treat him as if I am his mother. :)
I could see a gradual difference in him as he began to learn more. He would open up a little more each time we talked... He told me about losing his mother and father, and how difficult that was on his family, but he also would talk about how he loves his siblings. Family is really important to him and I could tell when he would talk to me about his relationship with God.
He gradually began telling me about his tentative baptism date, and I thought he was just kidding with me. He picks on me a bit in lab, so I thought that is what he was doing with this date he set.
He kept pushing it back, but I found out it wasn't because he didn't believe in what was taught or that he was struggling with anything, but the only thing that was holding him back was the fact that he was missing church because of his job.
His date was approaching... and it was still set, still solid.
He asked me to talk at his baptism and it hit me that it was actually happening!
Saturday it happened. He wanted a ninja turtle cake, he got one. He wanted to be baptized, he did it. He didn't expect the support, but he got it.
It was truly incredible to see him in white. He was so excited, so happy. He has so many more friends now and he didn't even know it. He was all smiles that day. When he came up out of the water, he was just so stoked. It took him a while to get out of the font because he was hugging Luca and didn't want the moment to pass.
He was excited to share his testimony and his experience in finding the gospel.
He was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday, by Luca.
Mary was able to speak at the baptism as well, which I think was really good for her. She was nervous, and before the baptism didn't even want to do it, but she did it, and it was great.
I am so stoked that Efe chose to join the church. It was a fun journey, to watch him progress in the gospel. I remember when he was talking about his experience, I looked back at how I saw it, and I could see the Lord's hand in it all, through every invitation I extended to him, and anything about the church I talked about. It all had a purpose. I didn't open my mouth because I just wanted him to boost church numbers. I didn't open my mouth because I wanted to tell people I got someone to join the church... I had a calm, peaceful assurance, while watching him bear his testimony, that I had done what the Lord wanted me to do. I gave the Spirit opportunities to witness to Efe of Heavenly Father's plan, and His love for him. And Efe was smart enough to except such opportunities.
I am grateful to have put myself in a place where the Spirit could work through me. I do not want to take credit for Efe's baptism, but I will take credit for that recognition of opportunities Heavenly Father presented to me. I am grateful to know that I can still feel of His love for me. There have been many times since I have returned from the mission, where I have felt confused and nervous, nervous that I may not be able to recognize the Spirit as well as I did when I was a missionary. But after I have had such feelings, there has always been a calming assurance, whether through prayer or through experience, that has been yet another witness of the Lord's love, that He knows me, and that I can always feel His Spirit if I remain worthy of such a gift.
He is aware of me, of us all, and that's an epic blessing. Fact.
Comments
Post a Comment