WASHINGTON D.C. SOUTH MISSION: OUR PURPOSE IS TO INVITE OTHERS TO COME UNTO CHRIST THROUGH...BAPTISM

Friday, August 7, 2009

OUR PURPOSE IS TO INVITE OTHERS TO COME UNTO CHRIST THROUGH...BAPTISM

We enjoyed the wonderful spirit of attending another baptism on Wed. evening. There are way too many baptisms for us to get to all of them. But we try hard to get to them when we can since it is the purpose of missionary work, " to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, BAPTISM, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. That is the purpose of a missionary. They are taught this in the MTC and it is found in Preach My Gospel--the most important sentence in the book. They all know and love that statement, and to hear them recite it as a group is really inspiring and brings tears to my eyes. (no matter how many times I hear it) I wish I could record them saying it and put it here on the blog as a memory.

We attended this baptism in the Ashburn Stake which is some of the most beautiful landscape anywhere. No matter how often or where we drive in this mission, I am overwhelmed by the beauty of it. "It takes my breath away" to quote Sis. Chauser. We drove to the town of Hamilton in Ashburn and witnessed the Baptism of Daniel Johnson. I wrote earlier about a 4th of July party we attended at the home of the Lyon family. This baptism is a partial result of that event. He was one of the nonmember guests who was friendshipped and invited to take the lessons. Sisters Jordan, Arnett, Banks, and Larsen were the missionaries who helped to teach Bro. Johnson. Sister Lyons gave a beautiful talk on baptism. She is a remarkable woman. Everyone can tell how much she truly cares for them. What a gift she has. Joseph Scanlan performed the baptism. And a Bro Bob Durrant, another recent convert of about 8 months sang "Where Love Is" and it was lovely. The spirit at baptisms is always remarkable as you witness the excitement of a new member entering the gate towards heaven. We really enjoyed the evening and didn't get home until close to 11:00. But it was well worth it. Thank you Sisters for calling and inviting us.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Stephanie Smith Fireside

Last Sunday evening we were privileged to attend a fireside in the mission. It was held at a beautiful old chapel in McLean. One of the pictures shows the inside of the chapel and the wood beams on the very steep-pitched ceiling of the room. The gym is under the chapel in the basement. I have never seen a floorplan like this one. Very unique. This fireside hosted Sister Stephanie Smith. Her story was in the Ensign sometime in the last year. She has a remarkable conversion story. She has held very high government positions and at one time was 5th in command at the CIA. She said something at the first of her talk that I wrote down: she said, "I've been on some remarkable adventures. But no adventure in my lifetime has been as extraordinary and life-changing as my path to conversion and baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. She then told about her introduction to the church. She was at a time in her life with tremendous worldly success achieved after clawing her way to the top without any regard for others, and she felt her life was shattering into a million pieces. At this time she turned to a colleague she admired who was a member of the church. He told her two things. That her Heavenly Father knew her by name and loved her and that Heavenly Father had a plan for her success. The next day he sent her a map to the temple visitor center. She told how when the missionary sisters came to her door, she didn't think she could relate to these young women. The first thing they did was ask if they could sing to her. They sang,"I am a Child of God." That was the beginning of her conversion, a long a beautiful story. You can read it on the web at Meridian Magazine. Her testimony was a real inspiration to me. There were over 350 people there and she does a great missionary work speaking to investigators. What a blessing to have heard her and felt her spirit.

Chelsea Our recent Convert

We have met the sweetest young sister. Chelsea is amazing. She joined the church during the last year and has an incredible testimony also. She never misses any missionary function and we were able to take her with us to the Stephanie Smith Fireside. She also came to the mission home a few weeks ago and we had family night. She gave the lesson and is was unbelievable. She is hoping to go on a mission next year. What a great young woman. This is a picture of her with Elders Ganaway and Gifford.