Sorry about the cliffhanger last week, everyone! I ran out of time to write it because I wanted to share my spiritual experience, but this week I should be able to get it all written and add some pictures, too!
Anyway, the baptism was really great and cool and also kind of funny. This hermana, Roxana, has 4 kids under the age of 10, and it was a struggle to keep her son, Irving, from spouting random stuff and trying to eat the cake we’d brought for refreshments (it was also Roxana’s birthday!) (That was probably the hardest moment of my fast that Sunday, right there.) Irving is 5, and he’s completely loco! And then there’s the baby, Estin… yeah, it was a little rowdy.
I gave a good little spiritual thought about baptism, and it was in really good Spanish (I think!). Then the baptism was the really cool and funny part. When I went to say the prayer (I don’t know what you call it) to begin the baptism, everything went dead silent. Irving, Estin, and even other noises that had been happening just moments before stopped during the prayer and actual baptism, and resumed almost immediately after. You could really feel the Spirit.
Then I think I ruined it (or she did, I’m not sure). See, I held her back as she went under the water, but she didn’t go under the water all the way because she didn’t bend her knees! (I had told her before that she needed to, but I think she was (understandably) a little apprehensive!) I didn’t really know what to do, so I shoved her under the water with my other hand! I really shouldn’t laugh about it, but she hadn’t been prepared for that so she flailed around a little bit while I brought her back up! (Maybe that’s why her face is a little grumpy in the picture Elder Terrones took afterward!) I’m glad I was able to keep a straight face because I almost couldn’t stop myself from laughing! So, yeah; that’s my first baptism!
As for this week, I don’t have a whole lot to mention. Until next week!
— Elder Schroeder
