We had 2 individuals get baptized a few weeks ago. One was a local girl, the fiance of one of the young adult men in the branch, who, by the way, we are also putting on a wedding for this Saturday. The other was an American, a friend of one of the medical school students in the branch. The last time we had an adult-convert baptism was about a year and a half ago. We found out the night before that there was no water at the church, which usually wouldn't be too much of a problem because we would just pull water in from a street faucet, but the entire neighborhood was out of water. (I know it sounds odd, but if you've lived here, you know that sometimes there is no water and sometimes there is no electricity, and you hope that they don't both go out at the same time!)
So, to get on with the story, the baptism was at the beach behind our house. It was a nice experience and it was great to have instant entertainment for all the kids, and we didn't even notice their shrieking and laughter because of the sound of the crashing waves. The downer for the day was that most of the local members were not able to make it in time for the baptism. (Only a few didn't make it because of their own tardiness.) Many of the members coming with our friend, Jason, were forced to pull over on the way to the baptism because smoke began coming in through the air conditioning vents, and when they all piled out of the car, there was nothing to do but watch as Jason's car mysteriously went up in flames. The fire department actually did arrive, and it was in amazingly record time. But by that time the engine and front tires and dashboard had already burned up/melted.
Thank goodness for the 10 American visitors who were on vacation and helped out with the attendance. I would probably say that 25% of our branch is made up of Americans who are here for veterinary or medical school, and us with Marriott. Those numbers are definitely not represented in this picture.
So long white jeep, you lived a good life.
5 comments:
You two are such a support to the branch there. They are blessed for all your unselfish service and we are blessed to witness your actions.
we are SO SAD that we missed out! it looks like it was a beautiful day!! thanks for posting pics:) love and miss you guys:(
Okay so who is getting married? Jared? That is awesome that you had some baptisms! I nearly cried when I saw Jason's post about the car a few weeks ago, that really is sad!
so exciting about the baptisms! who's friend is it? so happy for jared. hope the wedding goes great. i'll be thinking of you. :) this post makes me sad i'm not there. pretty much every one of your posts makes me sad i'm not there. funny how that works. :)
and the car- what the?!? poor jason. that is crazy.
Thanks for your comments. I think that things are probably a little different where you are! (thank goodness!) These pictures are absolutely breathtaking! James told me to never show him again unless I want to be living on an island somewhere. You guys look like you are living it up!
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