Carrying the Banner: A Baptism!

Hola mi familia!!

It's weird that another week has gone by! And even stranger that I hit 11 months on Sunday... I remember writing Sarah and her telling me she had been out 11 months and thinking that she was super old. It's weird that that is me now... Ha. And now she is at 14 months! Same with Madi. Time flies!

This week was a little crazy with interviews with president and such, but it was a good one. On Sunday we went to a baptism for the English New Canaan ward. New Canaan is RICH territory, and the ward is full of very accomplished people. This was the first missionary baptism in two years! Almost the whole ward showed up. We went to support our Zone Leaders who taught Greg, the muchacho that was baptized. It was a very spiritual experience. It was reverencing to see the support that was given to Greg as he began his new life. It was a reminder to me of the strength that comes from the ward as a family unit. We are all put in certain wards and certain ward boundaries for a reason, and The Lord needs all of our talents and skills to bring forth His work in whatever specific area we may be in. Also new members need support by us! What a blessing it is to help somebody continue on their path.

We also visited with Ana (16-year-old) again this week! She is really really dry. As in she is a very dry Mormon. She was taught the Restoration about two months ago by the elders and so we wanted to review it with her. We started out asking her what a prophet was, to which she replied and told us that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. She is so ready. We are hoping for a baptism at the beginning of August!!

This week we also met Veronica. She called us randomly after seeing a flier for English classes in the library and asked us for help with
her English. Upon meeting her, we found out that she is Argentinian, has lived the past 20 years in Rome, and is on summer vacation here with her Italian husband and three kids. She has studied English but needs someone to practice it with and help her Italian-speaking husband and children to learn it. She is also a sociology professor at the University of Rome. And when she was in high school, she was assigned to do a research paper on another religion. She just so happened to be assigned to research the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! The best part of this story is that Hermana Vicino studied Italian and knows quote a bit! It is definitely evidence that God puts us in certain places at certain times. They have two months left in their summer vacation, so we are praying that something happens with them in this short time period! If not, we will definitely have an amazing family prepared for missionaries in Rome. :)

God lives and really has a purpose for every situation we are in. If we pray and focus on Him, His purposes will become apparent and we will be able to reach our full potential.

Love you all,
Hermana Dodson

P.s. This Saturday is Christina and her son Adrian's baptism! (We had hoped Christina would be baptized in May, but she wanted to wait for her son who just turned 8 : )

P.p.s. YOU GUYS!

Madi just got transferred to Monroe, Louisiana. YOU KNOW WHERE THAT IS??!! It is a short drive away from West Monroe, THE HOME OF DUCK DYNASTY!!!!! That lucky bum. Next time you watch duck dynasty, just picture Madi there... Hahahahahahaha. She told me she is gonna go hit up
the store. And I told her she gotta go baptize that family. They're basically already as Christian as you can get. BOOYA. (Sadie obviously slipped into hick English here….)