Wednesday, January 2, 2008

December Baptisms


This blog will follow many of the happenings, feelings and miracles of the Alice Springs District for the month of December. It has been a joyous experience. Prior to the Christmas Zone (District) Conference the 6 of us met and discussed a goal which the 4 Elders had just set. They asked our support as team members in the district, with explanation that though many might deem this impossible, they believed we could baptize 16 people in the month of December. Being new missionaries and believing in these great young men we excitedly threw in with their vision. That vision was conceived with faith, and a plan was set forth. We agreed as a District that we would share a portion of the plan, but the goal as a whole was withheld.
We committed, as an entire district, that we would faithfully follow the mission rules. We became a companionship of 6 as we found each other’s strengths and built upon them. We worked as a team. We prayed, fasted and depended upon guidance from the Lord. All of these things became an integral part of our lives. We put together daily and weekly plans, and then proceeded to work, always relying on further inspiration and revelation. These plans were modified as needed to achieve our ultimate goal.
In the final analysis, the names may have changed in some cases, but the goal we reached always remained the same. When one door closed, the Lord opened another one. We have grown to truly love each other. We love our Savior even more than we did a month ago. We understand the concept of teamwork better than ever before. We love our investigators and new members more than a month ago. In all of our baptisms we have found Heavenly Father’s children who had been properly taught, had attended the requisite church meetings and were worthy of baptism. Our missionary efforts were flexible and unrelenting, and always within the bounds set by our church and mission leaders.
We have much work yet to do. We have faith in each other. We have faith in the Gospel. We have experienced physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion and renewal. After reaching the goal we were inspired to set and accept, we have taken a few hours to catch our breath and assess where we should now be going. No one will ever know how many changes of plans, miracles and “pre-filled baptismal fonts” we have experienced. It has been a glorious run. The magic number of 16 was inspired. We had to take so many twists and turns to reach the goal, but we know that what happened was supposed to happen. We also know there is still much to do. We are now better prepared to press forward. Our districts baptismal numbers may never again be the same, but they will continue.
We love and support our Mission President. We honor every church member and missionary who ever worked in Alice to prepare this field in order for us to be allowed to reap the harvest.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was wonderful to visit your site and read of your amazing experiences in Australia. I am so grateful that my son, Jordan, (aka Elder Collet)has been so blessed to serve with such faithful missionaries. We continue to pray for the missionaries in Alice--may the Lord continue to bless all of you.

Arah Debra said...

We are so proud of you guys. Know that you are always in our prayers . You will continue to do amazing things.

Lisa said...

Amazing, amazing, amazing. I love who you're surrounded by, I love what you're doing, I love you both!

Julee said...

So glad that you are following the spirit and doing what the Lord would have you do. We are all so proud of you and pray for you and the people that you have been called to serve everyday. I love reading your passion and remembering how I felt when I was on my mission.

Anonymous said...

Why, goodday mates! We are so pround of you and want to say how much we love you! It was great reading everything on the website and seeing the success that you too have done, and we look forward to more great and wonderful things that you two will do. What you are doing is "gooder than Wisky!" :P. We hope you know that there is a lot of love coming to you from Hawaii! Love, The Gibby Clan

Anonymous said...

PS...Sorry it took so long for us to write. We just got the hang of "blogging" :) Gibby 'Ohana