10:00am: Sister Hiatt and I drive to the chapel to meet the Zone Leaders and grab the key to the Stake center so we can come back to fill it later that day!
10:30am: They key does not open the font control panels! HA! So, we call the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric and he came to open the door for us.
2:00pm: Sister Hiatt and I come to the chapel to fill the font. The font in this chapel fills with cold water then you have to heat it. It takes about 4 hours to heat so we came 4 and half hours early ;) We were pretty excited! Haha before we left we turned the heat ventilation knob and shut the closet.
5:30pm: (1 hour before the baptism) Sister Hiatt and I come back to the chapel to set up and test the water. Sister Hiatt goes into the font, feels the water, looks at me and says "It's freezing..." My heart drops and I start to cry. Then I jump into action and run to the kitchen and start boiling, microwaving, and putting water into crock pots! HAHA
IT WAS HORRIBLE! We were heating, carrying, and dumping water as fast as we could and it wasn't making a DENT! Sam came, changed, we took a few pictures and bless his heart he said it was okay that the water was cold.
Lots of ward members and Stake YSA showed up to support! The chapel was almost full! Our Assistant ward mission leader conducted and he really set the spirit for the program. He is our wards most recent convert and was baptized 10 months ago so he started by saying something like this: "Sam, I just want you to know that 10 months ago I was sitting exactly where you were, wearing the same white clothing, and probably feeling the same things as you are. I was so nervous, but excited! Sam, I just want you to know how much this gospel and that decision I made have blessed my life. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner, when I was younger. Your journey in the church is about to begin and I am so happy to be here with you tonight." Then we had a song, prayer and a talk. After that Sam was baptized. I cried of course, the spirit was so strong and I was so happy for him! We went back to the chapel, had another talk, bishop gave some remarks then we sang and closed with a prayer! Lots of members brought food along so there was tons to eat and Sam was definitely the center of attention! Everyone was so friendly to him! It was amazing!
We went out to dinner with Sam, the bishop and his wife, the elder's quorum president, his fellowshippers and his friend Jasmine after the program. It was so fun and I think Sam had a good time!
The next day he was confirmed in Sacrament meeting as the newest member of the Riccarton ward! I have felt so great ever since! It feels like I am walking on clouds! I am so happy that we knocked on his door one day and that he was prepared to learn the gospel! He is such a blessing to me and my testimony is so much stronger because I was able to find, teach, and be a part of his baptism. A couple fun things we did this week:
Sister TePuke made me FuFu!! I had bad memories of this from Liberia, but it was actually good here in NZ! And then we got to play dress up with Sister Downes saris. It was so much fun!
Love, Sister Golden
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