We just had one of the best weeks of my mission. I had so much fun this week that I almost forgot I was a missionary! Although we had a lot of fun we still worked really hard and were blessed with the opportunity to see Jocelyn be baptized!
We met with her on Monday and she seemed very committed to baptism but then we went to visit her on Friday and she wasn't there. We talked to her mom and she told us that Joeclyn was having a lot of doubts about her baptism. Her mom was really nervous that she wasn't going to go through with it so we decided to fast together. The 3 of us knelt in prayer to start a fast on behalf of Jocelyn and the spirit was really strong.
We went back to visit them the next day (Saturday) one hour before Jocelyn's baptismal interview. We talked to Jocelyn and she bore testimony of the things that we've taught her since April. We asked her how she felt about baptism and she said that she wanted to do it because she knew it was a step in the right direction. We asked her if she had any doubts that she wanted to discuss and she said that she did. We asked her to share them with us and she said she was really nervous that she wouldn't go all the way under the water the first time and would have to be "re-baptized" until she finally went all the way under. I tried not to make my sigh of relief too loud!
Sunday came and the baptismal program went perfectly smooth and, most importantly, she only had to go under the water once! She prayed with so much faith that she wouldn't have to do it more than once and God answered her prayers :) She invited her non-member boyfriend and bothers to come to her baptism which was really great. However, her non-member dad didn't show up so she was kind of disappointed. If I have time I'll send some pictures from her special day.
On Saturday, the three wards in Gilroy had an awesome Luau. Over 600 people came and about 100 of them were non-members. It was such a great missionary opportunity! They cooked two pigs, had Hawaiian dancers (including a fire dancer) and a church tour. At the end of the night they invited all of the missionaries up on the stage and invited anyone who had any questions to come up and talk to us. We were able to find a lot of people to teach just because of that activity. AND it was a lot of fun!! The best part of the night was watching the elders try and do the Haka!
And just to add to our awesome week.....President took our district to the Santa Cruz beach yesterday! The weather couldn't have been more perfect and the ocean was so pretty!! Of course I didn't wear sunscreen and of course I got sunburned but it was totally worth it. We played soccer (which is REALLY hard in the sand) and had a picnic and just relaxed. Right before we left President made me race two of the elders but they both beat me :( I tried to tell him that I was retired but he said he had complete confidence in me and said we weren't leaving until I raced them. It was a close race though so I told him I'll train to beat both of them before I go home!
Overall it was a really great week. We ended on Sunday with 0 progressing investigators so we were a little discouraged but we've already found some great people to teach this week so hopefully some of them show interest! We know God will bless us if we just do our best. I hope you all have a good week and thanks for everything. I love you all!
Love, Hermana Billings
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