I Love, I Love, I Love

Hoppy Easter!

Monday whew! I can't believe it's Monday!! So many exciting things happened this week, now I get to reflect...and then go home and sleep! :)

Ahhh I get to tell you all about the baptism this week.  Our friend Brody got baptized. He's 11 years old and we met him because his father (who doesn't live with him) requested that the missionaries start teaching his mom and son, Brody. Now, Brody's dad is not a member but started taking discussions where he lives in Maine. Time passed...and I mean a lot of time passed...and we were really focusing on teaching Brody's grandma when finally they committed to coming to church one Sunday. When they came, Brody knew as soon as he stepped foot in the building that this was true. He LOVED it. He couldn't get enough of it. When we met him next, we asked if he wanted to be baptized and he said yes! 

It's a hipsta pic of my notebook for Tebs!

Of course, being an 11 year old, we needed to make sure it was alright with Grandma and Dad. Both were accepting of Brody's decision to be baptized and his Dad even made plans to come down from Maine to support him. So we began our teaching with Brody and within 3 weeks, he was ready and excited!

Oddly enough, things went perfectly to schedule. Every lesson was spot on, every commitment he was willing to keep--everything! It was so awesome to watch how easy the change was for Brody since he was already committed. But nothing in missionary work is ever that easy...or at least we should have guessed...

You see.... Baptism day came and well, I don't even know where to begin. Everything seemed to fall apart for Brody's family. It started with a phone call at 10am with Brody's grandma trying to postpone the baptism. So many family issues started arising that weren't even centered around the baptism at all. It was merely a conflict of poor planning and bad timing. An hour before the baptism, we had plans to pick up Brody so he could be there early. But when we got there we walked straight into the chaos. The only way to really describe just how chaotic it was is to say that the Adversary took a bowling ball and hit a strike...or several strikes. The timing of their trials couldn't have been much worse. With whatever peace of mind they had left, finally, we all drove to the baptism. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, Brody's dad couldn't go which was the reason for the baptism to be on this day in the first place. 

But victory was won! The baptism took place and it was a wonderful service. Brody had much support from the ward and his grandma even made mention in the service how glad she was that she didn't cancel. I remember that as soon as he stepped into the water I started to tear up. I felt so proud of Brody--for doing what he believed was true. He said the day before to his dad,"I don't know everything about this church but I feel how it is true and I know that getting baptized is the path I need to take." What an example he is to his family, friends and even myself!! Just after the baptism, we asked Brody how he felt and he responded, "I felt so much power. It was different than my other baptisms because there were angels. Like I had God over one shoulder and Jesus over the other."

From the mouths of babes!! Well... 11 year olds. It just proves to me that anyone with an open and willing heart to follow the Lord's will can know of the truthfulness of this church; this restored gospel. Baptism is such an important step to returning home to God and it is now available because of this restoration. But beyond that, it is available because of our Savior. With Easter yesterday I hope you've all taken the time to ponder on the glory of his sufferings. With every tear of blood He shed, He made it possible for us to repent, to be cleansed of our sins. He made it possible for us to never feel alone but instead to be lifted up! Most importantly, He makes it possible for us to return to the same God who gave us life--that we might be clean and pure in His presence.

I love this work. I love the Gospel. I love the Lord.

Oh, and I love you too! 

Sister Hawkins


Pics:

Hahah we took those robin eggs you sent and made lipstick out of em.
They're gross to eat so what else do you expect me to do with them??

Oh have I told you about all the turtles here???
We see SO many!! It's crazy! Here's a picture of just a few we saw the other day!

Note from the Mom: She sent a cute picture of Brody, but as he is a minor, I didn't feel comfortable posting it on this blog. What a great example he is for all of us!