things happened. First off, never fear! ________ is now officially a
member of the Church of Jesus Christ! Her baptism went as planned on
saturday and it was a very neat experience. There weren't many people
there at all. Just like 15 or so but it was very spiritual and such a
powerful program. The best thing was that she asked me to baptize
her. So she is the first (living) person I have ever baptized. It
was so neat! Funny story: we thought the font was filled really high
because it looked like it was. And then when I walked into it I
realized that the water level was only just above my knees. Super
low! So it was an advenure trying to dunk her all the way. The first
time I baptized her, her knee came up out of the water. When I pulled
her back up and explained that we needed to do it again she exclaimed,
"Oh no!" She was really afraid of the baptism and so to do it twice
took some courage. But she had a great experience. The second time
was perfect and she was fully immersed. What a cool thing!
Elder Hirschi confirmed her in church yesterday. His first
confirmation! He did a great job and it was super excellent
experience again. I can't tell you many other places where I have
felt as much power as I do when I stand in the circle of Melchezidek
Priesthood holders confirming a member of the church. Ah. So cool.
The church is true. You better believe it.
Speaking of Elder Hirschi. Transfers are this week and believe it or
not, Elder Hirschi is getting transfered! It was very surprising
because we're supposed to stay together at least 3 months. But for
some reason they decided to switch around a lot of the trainees. So
Elder Hirschi is going to St. Paul to be with another trainer where
he'll finish his training and I will be getting a missionary from
Rochester and I'll finish off his training. Kinda cool. His name is
Elder Gottfredson. We've got some really awesome things happening in
Plymouth now though and so Elder Hirschi is really sad to leave. It
was just very unexpected! He will be missed. But he's going to do
really well in St. Paul. He's a good missionary.
We also did an exchange this week and so I went to Uptown for a day.
It rocked. We went tracting up in North Minneapolis where a huge
tornado hit a few weeks ago and the damage was insane! Trees with
HUGE trunks were totally torn out of the ground. Houses had trees
fall on top of them. Sidewalk squares were pulled up. Crazy stuff. I
completely forgot to take pictures. I wish I had. Maybe I'll go back
soon. But probably not. Oh well. It was cool to see, very sad
though of course too. I don't think anyone was killed in the tornado,
so that it really good.
There is a lady who we have taught a few times. We met with her again
and had a fantastic lesson with her. She recently had a friend die
and so we taught her the plan of salvation. It was great and she
commented on how she felt so much better after the lesson was done.
We had been talking about baptism with her in the past and brought it
up again and invited her again to be baptized. She accepted and said
that the first date that popped in her head was September 23...
Really far away, however, Elder Hirschi and I both talked about it
after and decided that it felt good. We were shooting for July but if
the spirit is telling her september then I'm not arguing. And the
more we learn about her the more things we find that she needs to sort
out in her life before she can be baptized. So three months might be
the time we need to help her out. I hope that all goes well. Her
dearest friend is a member of the plymouth ward and is awesome. So
she is helping and so are we and with Baby steps we will get her to
the place that she needs to be.
Guess what! The Young men in our ward are going to the temple to do
baptisms for the dead this week and they invited the newly baptized
members to come along too. So the _______ family , __________, and
another family are all going to go and we got permission to go too!
Word! It is going to be the coolest thing in the whole world to do
baptism with them. _________ is taking the names for his father and
grandfather and is going to be baptized for them. It's awesome.
Things are starting to pick up in Plymouth. We got several new
investigators and have potential to get quite a few more this week
too. We had to drop ________ and sort of drop the _______ family
because they just weren't progressing. We need to have another
baptism soon so that Elder Gottfredson can have one in Plymouth. I
plan to :) I have the faith, now it's time to work.
After __________'s baptism we were tracting and knocked into this
family that were doing their own bible study. Actually the kids
compete in what they call the Bible Bee where they memorize a ton of
bible scriptures and have to recite them in the competition. And that
is what the family was studying for. So they invited us to their
backyard where we sat around the fire and and they showed us what they
do for their study and we shared some principles of our message. They
were super skeptical about our teachings but said that we could come
back to share it all with them. So we're going back today actually.
I'm excited. If they really are true seekers of God's truth then they
will have an awesome experience and will find the truth here. We'll
see what happens! I'm excited.
So it's been a delicious week. I feel like I'm finally learning how
to be an effective missionary. It's taken me a while but I feel more
confident as a missionary. I sure did have to learn fast. Finally
things are moving forward and we were very blessed this transfer to
see TWO baptisms. Amazing! The Plymouth ward is seeing some
wonderful success. It's been really neat. After this next transfer I
will have spent 6 months in the same area. Craziness. That is
uncommon but I love it. This ward is the BOMB.
MJ. It sounds like Engineering state was awesome. That was such a
fun time! And congrats on your scholarships!! Way to go!
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD! I hope that is was a happy one. I'm glad to
hear that you got the text from Brother McGuire. He was so nice to do
that for me. Thanks for being the best Dad in the whole wide world!
I love you very much.
I think that is a pretty good update for the week. I'm excited to see
where this area will go. So many neat things can happen in just 6
weeks.
Oh and guess what? Elder Farnsworth goes home this transfer. Isn't
that just weird? I can't believe it. But that happens. He's had an
awesome mission. I'm very grateful for the lessons he taught me.
Well, life is good. I love you guys. Thanks so much for your love and
prayers. You are the best!
Love,
Elder Ruesch.
