[1]Saturday
was an interesting day. It was very hard to focus because we were itching for our transfer calls. But we managed
to do some work and Elder W. made a cake for our baptism.
It was wonderful to have the baptism. It was a pretty good
turnout, and it was the first time Jason Johnson[2] had ever used his
priesthood. (He passed the sacrament for the first time the next day.)They had
a lot of nonmember family come, and we hadn't even thought beforehand to tell
them not to take pictures of the actual ordinance. Maybe we can ask them to
delete the pictures. There were a few mishaps; I had to direct them how
properly to hold their hands. We selected to sing hymn 180, which has a
disclaimer on the bottom to sing verses 1-4 for sacrament and to omit 4 but
sing 5 and 6 for baptisms. So we put on the program to sing verses 1, 5 and 6,
and it was announced, but the chorister just went on with the first four. It
does bother me that no one ever pays attention to the extra verses on the
bottom. So, we sang a sacrament song for a baptism.
This was my favorite baptism. Cassandra, the
fifteen-year-old, is actually my oldest baptism, and I think the most sincere.
She's also the only one I've baptized that I've taught all the way through.
When we started the day before Halloween we wondered if she was just taking the
lessons to please us and/or her family. But after not quite three months we
asked what she thought and she agreed to be baptized.
And thus it was very sad and shocking to receive our
transfer calls. All day we were speculating what could happen. We knew that something was happening since our zone
leaders didn't call us.[3] But I'm being transferred
to Hayden Lake, ID. It's my first Idaho area. I'm going to be companion to an
Elder B., who is just done training, and thus in mission lingo I'm going to be
his mom.[4]
Since a missionary in Cheney killed off his companion we're
with him today and I'm stuck at a 30-minute computer, so I don't have too much
time. The baptism and confirmation was the most exciting, but transfer calls
were also noteworthy. I thought I'd be here at least four transfers, but nope.
Now I probably only have two areas left--a three-transfer area and a four-transfer
area. An elder in Wenatchee was there ten months, so it could be my last area!
:(
Running out of time (in more ways than one),
Elder Melville
I was granted extra time (this week's email Part II)
The friendly computer gave me an extra thirty minutes, so I
can write a few more details.
Another sad occurrence about transfers is another person
we're baptizing probably in March, Jessica P.[5] She came to church as she
should, and her husband did too. He's a less-active member, and she asked him
what he thought about her learning and baptism, and he said he didn't want her
to do it alone, so he's coming back.
We had to teach the lesson in Gospel Essentials. It was on
our Heavenly Father. It was a short lesson so we allowed for a lot of
discussion. So I talked about how we receive commandments for our benefit, and
that living these, like the Word of Wisdom and the law of chastity, makes us
happier. Then we asked if there were any questions, expecting more discussion
about God. But Jessica piped up, "What's chastity?" She struggled with the word, but her husband
helped her say it correctly, so I hoped he'd tell her what it was, but he
didn't, and no one else was answering, so I had to. Then she kind of uncomfortably
dropped it, but Elder W. told me later he worried that it was going to turn
into a five-minute sex discussion.
That was better, though, than when we had to teach the law
of chastity as the whole lesson back in November or December. That day the
class consisted of me and my companion, never married; our branch mission
leader and his wife; a single sister in her fifties or sixties, also never
married; and an excommunicated member, who was also a sex offender. She had
just had an interview with the branch president about being rebaptized, and had
addressed her WoW issues with him. Then in the lesson we got to the part that
said, "Breaking the law of chastity can make you commit an even greater
sin--abortion." At this point the ex'ed member chimed in, "Oh, I
forgot to tell him about that. It wasn't my fault; the government made me do
it." Yep, she has no shame, and it's going to be a long road for her.
Anyway, I was also excited for a woman whose husband is the
high priests group leader, but she had her name removed. We were walking down
the street last week and saw her and she asked for a Book of Mormon. She talked
our ears off and said various pastors and stuff try to get her to badmouth the
Church, but she doesn't. She also said she's not ready for
"discussions" (which they're not discussions anymore, and as a former
member she wouldn't need them, but we'd gladly give them anyway), but it was
interesting she said she wasn't ready, not that she didn't want them. She's
consistently been attending church, bringing their ten-year-old son, whom she
didn't allow to be baptized at eight, but she may allow for it now.[6]
I loved the story of Preston and David the ghost.[7] The pictures I've seen of
Franklin are darling. It seems you keep changing your mind. Last I knew you
were planning on shipping me to Tennessee when I got home. Honestly I'd rather
them come out, but as long as I'll get to see my nephews, it will be good.[8]
Love,
Elder Melville
[1]
My email title came from a song from the 1972 movie Snoopy, Come Home.
[2]
This was the dad of the family. I feel like I can include the full name since
it’s so common. I haven’t been able to find them. The summer after I came home
from my mission, I went back, but they had moved.
[3]
The mission president would call us if one of us was being transferred, but the
zone leaders would call us if we were staying.
[4]
You were in training for two transfers, and your trainer was your dad. If you
got a second companion while you were still being trained, that was your step-dad.
And your companion for your third transfer was your mom. This was not official,
of course, but my mission president did tell me, “You’ll be momming him.”
[5]
She didn’t get baptized in March, but she did get baptized within a year.
[6]
The mom and the son got baptized after I left the area. I was Facebook friends
with her in 2011, but she thought I was a different missionary and later unfriended
me.
[7]
My nephews were in Taiwan while my brother was still at home. My mom wrote me
this in her email: “Preston has decided that David is dead, that is why they
don't see him. Dave has tried to talk to
him on the phone to reassure him but Preston won't talk to him. He finally told Ya-ping that the reason he
won't talk on the phone is because dad is a ghost so that is too scary.”
[8]
My mom’s email said they were going to bring my nephews to Utah for Christmas
when I came home, and that is indeed what happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment