Baptism!

It's been a whirlwind of a week. I feel like I was just literally sitting down here writing all of you! Let me explain.We have an investigator that's been wanting to get baptized for a long time....but her husband wouldn't allow it. Hence the reason I asked you to pray for her (and others...husbands can be such stinkers!) last week. Well, family, I want you to know your prayers were answered!! MIRACLE!!! The week looked like this:

Tuesday: We prayed our guts out that her husband would soften his heart and give his permission for her to be baptized. It's been a while since I've prayed so hard. We made an appt with her to "surprise" him that evening. If he knew we were going, he'd automatically leave, no where to be found. We parked our bikes, prayed, and walked in. He stuck around for a minute, and my companion just looked at me like, "You're the farang...he'll listen to you....go ahead..." So I whipped out a baptism pass-along card from my bag and walked up to him with a prayer in my heart. He was skeptical....BUT SAID YES!!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!!! She was so excited he gave permission!

Wednesday: Tia (the woman to be baptized) came to the church to interview with Elder Brix, the District Leader. She passed! It was an intense time watching her little 2 year old, plus another little 2 year old hanging out at the church. These 2 are the stinkers of all stinkers, ever to walk the earth. Put them together? It was a loooong 2 hours together. We made a trip to 7-11 to get them out of the church. BAD IDEA. She walked outside, barefoot because her mom didn't bring her shoes, pulled down her pants in front of the 7 and squatted down. Yup. We were a frantic pair of sister missionaries. Luckily passersby just laughed....and Thailand has no rules about bathroom use....Her little girl is in the picture I attached, sitting on my lap, then on the ground. She was pretty upset she had to sit for a picture, but I made her. Haha. Mean Sister Nay.

Thursday: Zone Conference, so not tons of time. But we made it to her house that evening and filled out baptismal records. She is Cambodian, so it was a lot of calling people, looking at records, etc, in order to fill it out correctly. Between Thai, Cambodian, and English, we got it figured out. :) AH.

Friday: Her special interview with one of President Smith's counselors. It took some time trying to locate the scriptures he wanted to share in her Cambodian scriptures, but it worked. And it was fun watching Nong Eey again...but the miracle? SHE PASSED!!

Saturday: SHE WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't the smoothest of smooth baptisms, due to little kids, members, etc. But it worked out. And she made it! She was confused as to why she was baptized twice, but the guy that baptized her was Cambodian, giving the prayer in Thai. It took some rehearsing. Gratefully she just laughed about it and said, "I'm just twice as clean!" Her little girl pulled and screamed and tugged on her as she was sharing her testimony afterward, and she finally gave in. "No......don't pick her up....." I thought...she instantly grabbed the microphone and started talking super loud. I tried to grab her, and she wouldn't have any of that. It never ends!!

Sunday: She was CONFIRMED!!!!!!! We resorted to just taking her little girl out in the foyer while she was blessed, to avoid any of the situations mentioned above. So we didn't hear it, but she said she felt like an electric shock went through her head and down her body. It was a feeling she couldn't deny.

So there you go. That was basically my week in a nutshell. LOTS going on, but we made it work. And we're still seeing miracles. For instance: We met a family of 8!! I may have mentioned them already, bu this family is incredible. They're kind of country folks, living in the city. They live on a farm/garden type place, growing/selling vegetables together. The daughter, her two little girls, and her little niece came to the baptism, too! And the grandma was going to come to church yesterday with her grandson, but it was raining. Next week...I want to play our cards just right and not mess up this family. AKA....prepare spiritually every time. :) I am excited to see what happens.

Jenny, Happy Birthday last week! I love you! Hope it was a great week! I'm sorry I'm always late on the draw, but I want you all to know I think of you and love you.

And sounds like it's becoming Thailand during the rainy season at home....except it's still cold. That's insane! I hope you stay more dry than I do.

Dad, thank you for sharing that Shelby story last week. I about died laughing when I read about it. And Manda, let Shelby know that I'd love a visit from her this Sunday if she's willing to make the trip!

Off to work........I love you all! Thank you for all you're doing at home! Make it a great week, and remember what this life is all about. I love you!!

All My Love,

Sister Nay