ridiculous.. in a good way. So my first week down in Indiana was
pretty lit. I've been in areas pretty much my whole mission where
teaching 8 or 9 lessons a week is amazing, and sometimes that includes
member appointments. Well this week we taught literally ALLDAY,
EVERYDAY. I kid you not. I've never run into the problem of worrying
when you're going to eat lunch or dinner BECAUSE YOU'RE TEACHING TOO
MUCH. I don't typically share my struggles in my weekly email, but I
was falling into the trap of wondering why I've spent 16 months trying
so hard to find someone to teach in four different areas only to find
those who just never quite caught the vision. Well, Yesterday I had my
first baptism in Valparaiso (she wasn't really 'my' baptism, but We
helped her make her final preparations to being baptized). We also
have four people on date. FOUR!!! Are you kidding me?? Literally the
same amount of areas I've served in. We also have a solid teaching
pool with people who are getting close to baptism.
One lesson I want to highlight from this week was with a man
named Greg, who has been recently struggling with smoking. He has been
making a run through the Addiction Recovery Program with the
missionaries for about the third time, and he still has not been able
to stop. However the Lord has put him in a situation where he sort of
has to not smoke, if he doesn't want to burn the house down. He has
recently been put on oxygen, so there is absolutely no smoking for him
at the moment. Hopefully he will be able to get ahold of the reigns
while he can.
We also helped this lady named Kim move a few days ago, and we
taught her the message of the Restoration afterwards. She understood
the purpose of baptism, and the priesthood, and why they are both
necessary, and then she committed to be baptized. We are so excited to
work with Kim, and help her come to a knowledge of the Savior.
So yesterday's baptism was definitely one I'll never forget. The
lady who was baptized, Leslie, is a really good member missionary
already, and she brought a bunch of her friends and family who are
nonmembers. The Elders who found her were able to come down for the
baptism, which was really cool, but the aspect of this event that is
most memorable was located in the font. When Elder Ward and I went
into the baptistery to check out the water level, we found that the
water was dirt brown. I mean it looked like dirt, smelled like dirt,
the whole nine yards. In an effort to try to get some cleaner water,
they began to drain the font and try to get some clearer water in to
dilute whatever it was in the pipes, and we ended up with just over
three feet of brown liquid ... however the baptism went on as
originally planned, and now Leslie's is baptized 😃
As I'm writing this it is snowing. We got about an inch or two
last night, and it looks like we're going to continue getting some
throughout the day today. This is Jesus Christ's church, we aren't
just a church that believes in Jesus Christ, this is His church. I
love you all.
Love,
Elder Fa'afetai Phipps
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