Okay, so much to fill in for this week!
I read all your letters and I will try to respond back to all of
them asap. But I am sorta pressed for time. Anywho! So I obviously
skimmed over the whole no baptism thing....let me tell you why!
We contacted "S" on January 10th,
he said while faith made sense to him he had none. We shared a
scripture and set up for another meeting and since then he really just
jumped head-first into the gospel. It was amazing. I mentioned it many
times in my letters. We felt sooo blessed and his conversion story had
become part of our testimonies. Then a few days before his baptism we
tried to call him to see how his trip to visit his son was...the phone
went straight into a recording. Uh-oh. So we tried not to panic, why
should we? He had been soooo reliable throughout all our teaching. Friday passes by and we are on the verge of a freak-out. I am just in denial. So saturday
(the day of the baptism) still no sign from the main-man... That
morning we searched every nook and cranny of this city and in Plazy. We
went to the hospital in Mlada Boleslav and searched for him there. (by
the way. remarkable all the places you can go without clearance...its a
little scary.) We met a really nice lady who tried to help us out there.
Then we go to where he used to live. Not there. We called our mission
president wanting to know what to do...his advice. Plan with faith.
Alrighty. So we did. We have everything in order as if it were going to
happen. It is in Prague, the font is filled, the refreshments made (one
of the most integral parts of a baptism), the programs printed, musical
number practiced...etc. Except. No "S". As the chapel filled with
members, missionaries, investigators, etc. I was on the verge of a
heart-attack. Every ounce of me wanted to take off in a dead sprint away
from the situation. Not just the uncomfortableness of the
shot-expectations but the personal spritiual-confusion I was
experiencing. I could not fathom any solid reason we would be in that
situation and yet there we are in the foyer of the church building.
Pleading in prayer in our hearts that he will just show-up with his son
as planned and all this mess would be right-side up again. I stood there
in the foyer with Sister Hicken and noticed the adjacent room of
pictures of Christ. We went in and shed a few tears. Only each other and
the Savior truly understanding the heart-ache. Christ's plea to "Come
and be baptized" meant more than ever. We walked out and President
McConkie as us if we could bear our testimonies... I almost guffawed (insert Courtney's note: I looked it up..."to laugh in a loud or boisterous way). I
can't possibly speak czech in a state like this. But before I even
realized, my mouth blurted yes. I guess my heart knowing it was the
right thing to do before my mind could say otherwise. So we follow with
the program as normal and shared our testimonies with them. And I don't
think I have ever felt the Spirit of the Lord so strong in my life. It
gave me courage, clarity, and calmness like none other. So that was Saturday
in a nutshell. We didn't have contact with "S" until Tuesday. We
got a text from a random number in the middle of Training saying he was
in the hospital in Jicin. So after training we went to see him. Turns
out, while driving with his son he saw some people on the side of the
road and they stopped to offer them help. The people turned on them and
beat-em up pretty bad and took the car. "S" was hospitalized and
didnt know how to get ahold of us, he could only remember the last
several digits of our phone number. He asked the man who shared the room
with him to look up our number on-line when he got home and he did! (a
miracle in itself!) He has moved to Jicin and will be baptized on Thursday.
Its all just crazy!!! He is happier than ever though. The branch just
loves him and everyone is stoked for his baptism. Other than that,
everything's been just dandy :) Happier than ever and my testimony has
grown 10-fold from the experience.
I love you all and am so grateful for the support! I truly feel the strength of your prayers and I am so blessed!!!!
Love you!!!!!!!!!!!
Sestra Schoen :)
No comments:
Post a Comment