On saturday both ________ and ___________ got BAPTIZED!!! Woo hoo!!!
It was such an amazing day. _________ was really excited and it was a
special day for him. And it truly was! Everything worked out
flawlessly. It was a miracle! President Clements came to _________'s
baptism as well. And then in the evening ________ got baptized! That
was also super exciting! I had the super amazing opportunity to
baptize her. She was nervous but the baptism went very smoothly and
we only had to dunk her once :) ___________'s cousin and aunt flew
out to the baptism. They are members and they are the ones that
introduced her to the church. So that was cool to have them come.
Both __________ and _________ were just so happy! It was cool how
each service worked too. It just worked out swimmingly. It was a
great day. Then in church the next day they both were confirmed. I
got to confirm __________ which was just killer diller and then
_________ was confirmed by a member of the ward. Talk about a party!
I loved it.
The baptisms were also really great because ______________ came to one
of them. He really liked it and I am sure he felt like he needs to be
baptized too. He has been waiting for way too long. He says that he
wants to be baptized the first or second week that he gets back to
school. That will be really great. I hope that he actually goes
through with that! He needs to be baptized. He has been waiting too
long. The thing with ___________ is that I really feel like he needs
to serve a mission. And he wants to. I think he feels like he is
supposed to also. And the longer he takes to be baptized, the longer
he waits to go on his mission. If he waits too long he may never go,
which is exactly what his family wants. (Little does his family know
it will be better for them too if he serves a mission!) So we are
praying all goes well this break and he gets baptized when he gets back.
Also, our awesome friend ___________ came to ____________'s baptism.
It was really great! She kept on saying things like, "If I get
baptized and I slip and fall and mess everything up, will I not be
allowed to me Mormon anymore?" Ha ha it was so funnny. She is
hilarious! But it was a good sign because she is really thinking
about being baptized. That will be awesome!
We had another investigator come to church yesterday. Her name is
_____________. She is trying to find a church and we have had some
really great lessons. I can see some great potential with her! The
great thing about __________ and __________ is they will still be
around over the Christmas break and so we will actually have a couple
investigators to teach. Otherwise, things are going to be pretty
sparse. We may end up finding a lot of foreign students to teach
because they are the only ones that don't want to fly home for
christmas and so they will still be around. Finals for the U of M end
on Thursday (kinda late!) and so we'll see what happens after that!
We also had a great miracle! Do you remember ____________? Probably
not. He is the one that emailed a member and said that he wanted to
meet with us. And we had a baptismal date set with him for dec 10th.
And then he fell off the planet. But last monday I gave him a call
randomly and he totally picked up and we set up an appointment with
him! We met up and taught him the Plan of Salvation. The lesson was
awesome and he totally knows that this church is true. He just has
really difficult struggles in his life and he can't quite bring
himself to act by coming to church or being baptized and stuff yet. I
think we may have rushed him too fast. But now we're going to take it
slower for him.
Last week was crazy busy but it was crazy fun too! Christmas time is
the best! You know, one of the things I'm starting to learn really
well is how to use my time wisely. That is one of the greatest skills
that the mission has taught me. I love it! It is amazing how fast
your time flies by and if you don't make every second count, it's all
gone and you've got nothing done. I think a truly honorable mission
is one where you used the Lord's time as effectively as you possibly
could. This is not the time for us, it is the time for the Lord. I
hope I can continue to use this skill throughout my whole life too.
The best way to sum up this week is to say happy. It's amazing, you
work so stinking hard every day all day and it totally pays off and
way more to watch someone make so many changes in their life and take
the step to be baptized. Missionary work is the most awesome thing.
SUPER EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS!! For our delicious skype sesh, I can't
wait!
Well Merry Christmas! Thanks for all the packages and letters. I got
a package from Brian and Jen this week which is awesome! I look
forward to opening my presents! And I have loved reading the letters
every day for my 12 days of christmas. It is the best! Thanks
everyone! I wish it was Christmas every month because I get so much
mail! Woo! Can't wait to talk to you! I really gotta go!
LOVE,
Elder Ruesch
