This last week was transfers. It was also my first week of training in the office. It´s been pretty crazy. I believe that nobody has come as close to true despair as the travel secretary when the night before transfers, the travel credit card fails. So, as Elder Gantner and I worked away at travel plans, we silently prayed that the card would not fail. Which ended up happening anyway, but we were able to make it work. I´m lucky to have Elder Gantner as an office trainee. He is VERY good with computers. Which really helps because I still struggle sometimes trying to make Excel work. Things have been going very well. I am hoping to leave the office within the next week and a half. I still am not sure where I am going. It was quite something to know where everyone in the mission was going except yourself. I guess it´s just one of those things where you have got to accept that it makes the plot to your story a little more interesting and you wait in suspense until you find it out.
I know I have mentioned what it is like to work through a transfer before as an office elder, but I think it is adequately compared to trying to walk on a balance beam while talking on the phone and simultaneously trying to buy tickets. With your feet tied together. Okay, so that might be an over exaggeration, but it can get pretty crazy.
This last transfer we had thirty one new missionaries come in. Which is a huge, huge group. I think the last time that a group this large came in was after the age change about two and a half years ago. So just that everything went well was a little miracle in itself. But I´m getting ahead of myself. A lot more important things happened this week.
Martins and his family were baptized! They are in total three people. Martins, Josefina, and Getty. They are AMAZING. It was really cool, because each of us were able to baptize one of the members of the family (as we are now a trio in the office). They speak English, so we were able to baptize and confirm them in English. What an incredible experience. Our branch president got up to give some remarks at the end of the baptism, and he told us how remarkable and what a blessing it is that it´s not just Martins getting baptized, or just Josefina, but the whole family. That´s the way it should be. Josefina, as she was walking away from the font, said ´Finally, I´m clean. I´m finally, finally clean.¨ But what´s even more remarkable, is what happened the next time that we went to go visit them. President Andersen was also able to speak at their baptism, and shared about temples, and they received a picture of the temple at their baptism. We walked into their house, and up on their wall was the picture of the Madrid temple. One of the first questions that they asked us was ¨When are we going to the temple?´ Which is really what this is about. It´s not about just getting people baptized and that´s it. It´s about helping people change their lives and come to Christ. That´s what´s so great about the their baptism. They really have changed. I can´t wait to see them for their ´second time in white´. They have become ´new creatures in Christ´ and that´s why I´m so grateful to be here. I guess I would say that´s why I´m so grateful it´s a great day to be a missionary.
I love you all,
Elder Weenig
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| Martins, Josefina, and Getty with Elders Gantner, Fife and Weenig |
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