a lot of people ask
"What is so different about being baptized in your church compared to being baptized in mine?//"
Well you see, Jesus Christ had the power of the priesthood which is the authority and power that God has, and sometimes gives to man to act in all things for the salvation of man.
The priesthood is the bridge that connects the gap and binds Heaven to Earth. In order for baptism to be valid both on Earth and in God's eyes, it must be done under the direction of the priesthood.
aka the man doing the baptizing must have this authority or power from God to do so.
Hebrews 5:4
Jesus Christ and His apostles had this power of God but what happened to the power when they were all killed because the people were wicked? God withdrew his power from the Earth.
So how is it on the Earth today? Joseph Smith restored the true church of Jesus Christ.
He didn't start his own church, he brought back the gospel of Jesus Christ
and the power to act in His (Jesus') name.
Cam got baptized last Sunday!!! Super awesome experience.
His family really came together and the spirit was evident in their countenances.
But
uh oh..
that's right
there's a but
but>>>>butt
but
there was some chaos
Cam's mom wanted her father to do the baptism, and he has been out at sea.
We have been teaching Cam FOREVER and he has not been baptized. So when mama Coop said, my dad is going to be here this weekend so we need to do the baptism, we were so excited!
and stressed.. because throwing a baptism together that fast can be challenging.
and we had still not met this grandpa of Cam's
we did not know a couple of things
what he looked like
or the state of his mental wellness
(Only one of those things really matters in this case. You decide)
Now for the story.
The baptismal font in our building is in the gym. So we do the talks and whatnot, in the relief society room and walk to the font for the actual baptism.
Everything was in place, everyone was waiting in the rs room and we decided as a companionship to get a quick picture with Cam and his family last minute in front of the font in the other room.
We walked into the gym area by the font, and I will never forget what I saw.
We looked up somehow, to see an older man dipping his toe in the water of the font, about to head right on in.
We were like.. what the heck..
who is this guy about to take a swim by himself
I was a little stunned
next thing I know mama Coop is like
"Dad get outa there.. my gosh. Get out of the font! We're not doin that part yet!"
He looked at her completely confused and said, "Where is everybody?"
So that's the story of how we met Cam's grandpa halfway into the font to baptize.. well..
no one because he was all alone in there.
I died laughing.
That's completely disregarding the fact that someone broke the plug to the baptismal drain and we tried to make one out of a jar, and some yay-hoo dropped the jar in the font and it shattered before we had a chance to try it out.
(that yay-hoo was me)
((what's a yay-hoo anyway))
After cleaning out the glass so that grandpa and Cam would not be bleeding during the service, we stuffed a rag into a garbage bag and made our own drain stopper.
not to mention the hot water has been MIA for quite a long time which meant more boiling water to pour in the font so that it wouldn't be completely freezing
lol
because it was still freezing
as grandpa was able to find out prematurely
tip toeing into the font
BUT THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG
and I realized something this week
Cam is not done
none of us are done
baptism is simply the first time we sign a contract with God that we will resign every week for the rest of our lives as we take the sacrament
Cam's progression, or any of ours, does not end when we walked out of the waters of baptism.
Jesus' mission on earth did not end when he was baptized by immersion, why would ours?
It begins and repeats every week
"to the souls of all those who partake of it"
The terms of the "contract" don't change, but you better believe
as we STRIVE to keep those terms that God has set:
we do.
We Change
Holy beans Sister Saunders!! all you talk about is change every week just in different ways..
like what the fetch
I don't apologize. Because we all need it. Not just change, but
progression in the right direction towards PERFECTION.
"You're a butterfly held captive small and safe in your cocoon"
BUT
"there's no growth in a comfort zone. And there's no comfort in a growth zone."
Do y'all think it was comfortable for Gandhi to give up all his money, worldly things, be beaten, jailed up, and give up all of the natural pleasures in the life he had previously led?
No, but he did and as a result he freed his entire country from the tyranny of the strongest country in the world at that time.
(Hi, I love Gandhi)
anyways..
my Ryanne rant is over
SiStErSaUnDeRsSpEaKs
ask Taylor Swift she will back me up
that whole "don't change" statement written all over our year books from junior high is so overrated
I challenge ya'll to write "stay cool, but get cooler" instead ;)
One more thing to keep in mind is that most of us are not going from bad to good
its more like going from good to better
and better to best
and on and on to infinity and beyond
#buzzlightyearquote
BUT MORE COOL STUFF HAPPENED THIS WEEK
For example
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| Pensacola Zone Conference |
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| *when it's sunny we wear shades.. |
We also had correlation at the ward mission leaders home and his family is so stellar
They live in this beautiful castle of a house right next to the water as in, the ocean is literally their backyard.
Not only that, but our ward mission leader has a man cave attachment to his garage where he has all kinds of super sick guns and wait for it...
light sabers
like.. yes.
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| man cave |
Not only that but when his wife was a week and a half away from having her TRIPLETS he dressed up in all his gear (he has a night-vision one-eyed gadget and some sick black ninja looking clothes/a cool gun) and walked around the corner freaking the heck right out of his pregnant wife and in her own words
"I almost gave birth"
Not only that but both of them are doctors and have worked out schedules where one of them is always with the kids at home
Not only that but his wife worked as a doctor TEN DAYS before she gave birth to the triplets
Not only that but she had two older kids besides the triplets and after delivering said triplets (thats five kids under the age of ten) she looked at her husband and they both agreed, one more.
IN THE RECOVERY ROOM they decided too have another which they did.
Not only that but their children are beautiful and Bo (one of the two girls of the triplets) drew me a picture on Sunday. She is six and adorable.
Not only that but they met on his mission, they both speak Spanish, and they bought their German Shepherd from the Czech republic so the dog only speaks Czech which means when they are yelling at the kids it comes out in Spanish and when they are yelling at the dog they yell in Czech.
Not only that, but he converted his wife on his mission and she was originally from Cuba.
okay.. I will admit it. My obsession with this family is quite out of hand.. and thank goodness repentance is real because the tenth commandment was a hard one not to break that day.
God bless the H family
Don't worry, we did go over a lot of missionary type stuff during the meeting in the man cave with the elders and bro h even though I was very distracted by their amazing life.
6 kids ranging from 4 to 16 like.. woah
not mention bro H sent us this text LOLOLOL he rocks
any-who
moving on with life or at least attempting to
Paul and Paula were talking about Sweetie one day this week like they usually do... only this time they caught on I think to the fact that Sister C and I just don't appreciate what it's like to have a dog that close to us in our lives. Paula gave us some reassurance: "Don't worry. You'll have kids someday."
we lost it
Sweetie is literally their child
and she was referring to Sweetie as the kind of kids we would have some day
still holding out for at least a few human kids myself ;)
I seriously love Paul and Paula, they got their temple recommends yesterday and it was so great to see their excited selves, and we are so excited for them to go to the temple
Huge Highlight Headed Your Way
Alexis got baptized on Saturday!!!
Alexis is honestly one of the most genuine people I know. We have been teaching her for a while, and she had been meeting with the missionaries a few times before I got here.
(when I say we have been teaching her I really mean she has been teaching us)
She is my age and she is beautiful inside and out, her baptism was so special.
As we walked from the service to the bathroom so we could show her into the font, she began to spill tears of happiness and she bore her testimony to us.
She was so excited this whole week leading up to it, and that moment she was feeling such a tender love from God.
Watching her be baptized, the spirit was on fire and I couldn't feel more proud to know such a wonderful follower of Jesus Christ.
One of the highlights of the baptismal service for me, was sitting close to Alexis' little brother (we were so happy her mom and dad and lil bro were there to support her)
Her little brother has downs syndrome and struggles with speech. As we sang "Sunshine in my soul" and the part that says "Jesus listening can hear, the words I cannot say" it was so touching to me. Her brother was singing the hymn and he was doing so well! Despite the fact that he couldn't really pronounce the words and he had never heard these songs in his life. He's only eight years old and he was singing.
I felt God's love for that little boy, Alexis, and her parents. And at the end of the song her brother audibly said "I like that song. That's a good song."
It was so sweet.
I am so grateful to my father in heaven for these experiences and the gift that is His mission.
It's truly a gift to me.
it's hard sometimes..
it's not always baptisms and funny stories about fat chihuahuas..
or amazing dinners with an amazing family who spoils us....
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| Marlins Seafood restaurant |
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| *Food pic for Grandpa & Nanny~phenomenal grouper |
but the good outweighs the bad
Sunday is Easter!
I am going to be studying in Mathew about each day leading up to the Saviors death and resurrection.
yesterday was Palm Sunday~today there are a bunch of parables if you want to do it also:)
There's a new Easter video called #hallelujah so check that out!
"Follow Him and find new life"
<3 Me, a Sister Missionary
p.s. my mom sent me fruit snacks and other green stuff for st pattys day so of course I was so pumped. Did you know my mom is superwoman? Thanks mommy for the fruit snacks and the facial and the bubbles and the gummy worms (the kids at church are especially grateful for the gummy worms;) #maytheluckoftheirishbewithyall
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| Green Apple Jones Soda~reminds me of Gma Pat & the cabin:) |
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| St. Patty's shenanigans.. |
p.p.s. my companion is the sweetest most hilarious human ever. She teaches me bold/directly, and with love. Just as the savior teaches. She is beautiful and wonderful and all things good, I just had to give her a shout out because I love her to the moon and back.
Make it a good day!
xoxo
