WASHINGTON D.C. SOUTH MISSION: BAPTISM OF THE MALDONADOS

Sunday, February 21, 2010

BAPTISM OF THE MALDONADOS

Elder and Sister Maldonado with Brother and Sister Maldonado and their family

Elders Baldwin and Williams with the Maldonado Family

A Family Baptism. The Greatest

Elder Lawson with the Maldanados.

The Maldonado Family was baptized on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010. This is a beautiful story. We have a Sr. couple, the Maldonados serving in our mission. Our Sis. was in the hospital. The elders, Lawson and Shattuck, went to the hospital to give her a blessing. When they got there they asked for the room number of Mrs. Maldonado. They went to the room and began to visit with the lady in the room. They soon discovered that she was not the Sis Maldonado who is a member. They continued to visit with her however and she expressed interest in their message.

Elder Maldonado was in the waiting room and talking on the phone. He told about the missionaries going to the wrong room. Mr. Maldonado was sitting by him and said, " I am the husband of the other Mrs. Maldonado. They had time in the waiting room and visited for some time.

The story is wonderful. Because they new Maldonados were very excited to learn about the Gospel. Mrs. Maldonado had been wanting to find a church for them to attend and had been praying to know which church to go to.

What an amazing series of events. They can't just be coincidences. Two ladies with the same name, The mission Maldonados passed 2 other hospital to get to this one, getting the wrong room number, being in the hospital at the same time. Heavenly Father must have known this would happen. What a wonderful miracle.

The baptism was beautiful. First Brother Maldonado was baptized, followed by his wife, Yolanda and his daughter, Celine. Watching a whole family come into the church was a great experience. They have two smaller children also. There was a wonderful turn out of support from the ward at the baptism and I believe they feel loved and accepted already.

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.