Baptism!

Well, I will explain in a second, but we cancelled Frau Zalka's Baptism, but Jakiri was Baptized!! (And confirmed of course!) We met with him a couple of times throughout the week, he had his struggles, but he never gave up and he was baptized! It was such a huge change for him, and he recognized that.

On Sunday he asked me to bring a really sharp knife or scissors to the baptism on Friday. I was confused but I brought both, and just before he climbed into the baptismal font, HE CUT HIS HAIR! His hair wasn't really all that long, and he didn't need to cut it but, he wanted a new look to go with his new start. He is so happy now. He still is having his struggles, but is moving forward with faith. It is so neat to see. Haha, there were 8 investigators at the baptism, who subsequently were a bit worried that they would also need to cut their hair if they were to get baptized. The missionaries ( there were 4 other companionship there) cleared it up fairly quickly.;-) Frau Zalka came to it! She almost couldn't because she was having car problems, and they didn't get resolved till an hour before she needed to leave, but she came and really enjoyed it. 

Which brings me to her story, you know most of it, 2 p-days ago we went and visited her, she had her interview, and she requested the 2nd of December as a baptismal date. Well, the following sunday (a week before yesterday) she didn't come to church, saying that she wanted to go the her Evangelisch ward one more time to get "Clarity" (I guess to make absolutely sure that she was making the right decision or something) but asked us to keep the baptismal date as is. Ok, so we did, the GML called her that night and everything looked to be fine, she didn't feel anything at all, so we were still on for Sunday.

We had previously designed to alternate with the GML and call her throughout the week. Every night. He was supposed to call her on Monday, but he happened to be traveling so he forgot. When he got back he noticed that he received a letter from Frau Zalka in the mail, and the letter said that she did NOT want to be baptized at all. So he called her and talked to her. She had sent that letter a few days earlier, and it was supposed to arrive on Friday or Saturday. At which point he talked to her for a bit, and decided that we were going to call off the baptism, and give it a few weeks in which she should come to church and Jakiri's baptism, then once things are a bit more constant, talk about a baptismal date. So that is why she was not baptized this past Sunday. Her son was sick yesterday, so she only came for Sacrament, but she came to the baptism as well and things are looking better. We will probably wait another week or so before we talk about a date, we hope that we can maybe shoot for the 23rd or the 30th. She knows everything she needs to know, she has a testimony, she just needs to get some support, and stick to her testimony. So that is where it stands on that currently. 

We met with Martin and Marion (I spelled it Miriam before, that was just a shot in the dark based on how they pronounce it, but the name is actually Marion). After having 3 discussions lasting nearly 2 hours a piece, we finally succeeded in explaining the Plan of Salvation to them both. It's really interesting teaching those two. They are on two completely different levels. Marion when we first started meeting her was agnostic, not atheist but wasn't really sure if there was a God or not. Martin on the other hand has been religious his whole life and has been studying about our church for 10 or so years, and knows a lot about deep doctrinal things. This is why it took that long to explain the Plan of Salvation.

We would get Marion to understand, then Martin would ask a question that was somewhat deep doctrinal, and Marion would get confused. We would read a scripture, and Marion, who thinks VERY logically, would get confused or not understand, so we would back it up and explain it verse for verse. But we finally answered all questions and they both understand it, so that they don't have any more concerns. Then we talked about baptism, and we challenged them to prepare themselves and set the goal of being baptized on the 30th of December.

But the one problem is, is they currently are not married, but living together. And it's somewhat difficult to get married here in Austria, The paperwork a lone can last between 2-4 weeks, and that's if you REALLY push for it. And Marion was also really concerned, she wanted to feel more sure, she still had a lot of doubts, and when we told her that she could be ready (marriage aside) for baptism in 4 weeks she was really skeptical. But this is where the miracle comes in.

Yesterday was fast and Testimony meeting. She was really skeptical about obtaining a testimony so quickly. I sat next to them yesterday, but we were in the back, typically where all the families with young children are. So the atmosphere, wasn't exactly the best, and I was really worried that they wouldn't feel the spirit. But I happened to look over at her during the meeting, and she was crying, not just tears in her eyes, but full out crying. I tapped Martin and asked her if she was alright and he nodded and said that it was a good thing, that she was just really touched at the testimonies. The next three testimonies were given by some young women in the ward, which were also very powerful (poor Marion, she was rather embarrassed that she was crying so much), and after that the meeting came to an end with the hymn "Freude der Welt" Joy to the world. Didn't help much :-).

After the closing prayer she made a straight shot to the bathroom (because she was still crying) When she came out she still had tears in her eyes, and Schwester Jankowsky (Nina Jankowsky (there are a lot of Jankowskys in the ward)) Went and gave her a hug, and invited them to lunch with her family (YES!!!). I about started crying. IT WAS PERFECT. Exactly what Elder Steed and I wanted, and were praying for. That she could feel the spirit, and that we could find someone to invite them to lunch or something, some friends in the ward! 

So that was our day yesterday. Very successful. I confirmed Jakiri, and survived. (It is the first time that I have ever confirmed anyone, doing it in German, in Sacrament meeting if front of the whole ward) I was really nervous and was shaking, but only made one mistake in that I said "Mitglieder" instead of "Mitglied" ("members" instead of "member") but I was ok, and I did not need to do it again (thank goodness!).  Haha, and then after Church I ended up giving him (Jakiri) a blessing because he ate some expired food and got food poisoning from it. I have blessed enough times in German that I can do that without a problem. :-) I am just going to remember "MITGLIED" next time :-).

But yeah. that is pretty much all that happened this week. Jakiri loves Elder Steed and I, he refers to us Yang and Ying, respectively. :-) I don't know exactly the entire meaning behind that (the names have a meaning associated to them, and he gave me a small explanation, but if anyone wants to look that up and tell me what they mean, feel free :-) ) Essentially what I got out of it is Ying is more reserved and Yang is more aggressive. He says that we were the only two which could really help him out. That was kind of him to say.  Which fits us really well in our relationship with Jakiri. It took both to bring him to be baptized now, instead of later.

He is going on Kur on Wednesday. Kur is essentially a 6 week vacation in a hospital, where you take a break from all of your problems. He wants to get a new job working with Computers, but before he can begin training his soon to be employers are requiring him to go take a break :-). Believe me, its needed. The only problem is, is that he will be gone for 6 weeks and won't be able to come to church. We are going to organize it so that he gets visits from members and us while he is there, because he can't leave. So that is to come. But we will take it one step at a time. :-) 

Thats all for this week, I love you all and wish you all well!

Love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen