Guarina's Baptism

Hola mi familia!

We have had another fantastic week here in Inwood! Guarina was baptized on Saturday and then received the Holy Ghost on Sunday, which was one of the main reasons why this week was so great.  

Guarina's baptism was beautiful!  Just like I thought, she looked so good in white! We had a huge turnout from the ward and the Spirit was so strong.  She was so prepared to be baptized.  I was in shock that we had only found her six weeks ago, and already she had fully understood and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When she went up to the front of the chapel to be confirmed on Sunday, we saw her slip a tithing envelop to the first counselor.  She is an incredible example.  

I love how peaceful Guarina looks!  Pedro, her husband is in the jeans.  He’ll look good in white too!

Before the baptism, we kind of had a crazy day.  We ran to pick up one of our investigators, Filgia, for the baptism.  We were rushing to get to the baptism early enough and arrived at the chapel about 15 minutes before it was about to start.  We rushed into the Relief Society room and didn't see Guarina anywhere! Cue freak out mode. We started running around the chapel asking people if they had seen her, but nobody had.  Elders Freebairn and Salceda said they had opened the door to two dominican women that were missing, and so we assumed they were Guarina and her neighbor Milagros.  Sister Hall and I couldn't find them anywhere.  We decided to go upstairs and check all the bathrooms, hallways, etc.  Sister Hall suggested we should say a prayer to find our missing baptizee, and so we stopped to do so.  

To be honest, I could not stop giggling during the prayer! What a funny situation we were in!  The baptism was supposed to start in 10 minutes and the present to be baptized was MIA, and probably MIA somewhere inside the building!  A few minutes later we found Milagros chilling on a couch upstairs. THEY WERE THERE!!! She said Guarina had just barely gone to the RS room. We flew down the stairs and found her! I felt so relieved and so grateful! Heavenly Father answers prayers.  

She changed and already began to get teary-eyed as the Spirit overwhelmed her. Sister Hall and I actually ended up missing the actual baptism because we were behind the scenes holding Guarina's  towel.  But when she came out, she looked  beautiful.  The best way to describe how she looked was that she emitted  humility.  She was  teary-eyed and silent, and was so reverent as she put on her flip-flops  and went in to go change.  The Spirit testified to me of the power of ordinances performed by the Priesthood of God. Sister Hall and I walked back out as people began to bear testimony. Pedro, Guarina's husband (and our new investigator!!) walked up to bear his testimony.  He didn't know how to do it, or really what to say, but he testified of the gratitude he had for the ward and for His Savior.  He spoke about how happy he  was that his wife was so happy and that she was in the true church, and he began to cry. The Spirit was really strong throughout the whole service, and we are excited to teach Pedro and get them on their way to the temple.  Filgia, the investigator we had picked up and brought to the baptism, was really moved by the Spirit and on Sunday, we were able to set a baptismal date for her for March 28!! 

Look how pretty Bryant Park is!! It looks so different than when I came 15 months ago in the fall!

I love being a missionary and am so grateful for the time that I have here.  The Church is true, and it is the only way through which we can receive all the ordinances necessary to enter into the kingdom of our Heavenly Father.

Love you all!

Hermana Dodson