Baptism!

Welp, Richard got baptized!  Neither of us had ever had to prepare for a baptism before so we didn't really know what we were doing and it was crazy!  But it all went pretty well.  He looks really sad because he was bawling the whole time.  He was really excited to get baptized so he can be sealed to his wife.  He is finally smiling in the last picture because right before it he made a joke, "me and Robin will have to tweet together."  Ya...he thinks his robin jokes are funny.  I think it's funny that he thinks it's funny.  So it all works out.  He makes a bird joke every time we see him.  Which has been just about every day so it's a lot haha.  Sister Naylor and I did a musical number...it didn't go all that well haha.  She started too early and then the accompanist had us start over so we were back on track.  Awkward!  And my hands were shaking like crazy.  But I think people still felt the spirit so it was all good. :)  It was a little bit of extra pressure because the AP's are in our zone so they came.  That stressed me right out.  But I haven't been sent home yet so I guess we did ok. :) That night, after the baptism, we went to see him to take him a framed picture of the sac temple.  Well...he had a pack of cigarettes in his pocket.  We gave him the benefit of the doubt because sometimes he just likes to keep candy in the cigarette boxes.  Well the next day at church he definitely smelled like smoke.  And that's when he got confirmed.  So...that's awkward.  The thing is he definitely has the ability to not smoke because he hasn't for weeks.  So why he chose to do it again I can't imagine.  But before I even saw the pack of cigarettes I could see he had less light.  That makes no sense really but I've heard people remark on the light that church members have and I never noticed it until I noticed the lack of it.  He had light, and then it was gone.  So I am sure he had already smoked when we took him the picture.  It's really disappointing.  But repentance is for everyone!  We will keep working with him. 

We have an appointment with Alyssa this week so hopefully that works out and she is able to commit to a day to be baptized.  Pray for her in talking to her mom about it.  We don't know if she has done that yet or not.

Yesterday I was feeling kind of disappointed and bummed out that I seem to be less passionate about missionary work than I was when I first came out.  It starts to feel like a pointless routine after a while...like you just knock on doors and talk to people and no one cares anyway so why keep doing it?  Bad attitude, I know.  It happens sometimes, but right as I was wishing I had a stronger desire and more faith to find we saw the less active member we were trying to visit outside.  They never answer, but she always talks to us if she is outside.  We had a good visit with her and set up an appointment for this week.  She told us everything that was worrying her about church (being distracting to others with her children, not speaking English well) so we have a better idea of her needs.  Then we were able to set up an appointment with the next people we talked to as well, and the last people of the day it turned out they are a part member family and we met the non-member in the house and he was pretty open to talking to us.  Heavenly Father always gives us what we need!  I was reading in the scriptures this morning in Alma 43.  The Nephites are fighting for their freedoms, but they are extremely outnumbered.  In verse 49 they "cried with one voice unto the Lord their God, for their liberty and their freedom from bondage...and in that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them."  That really stood out to me.  In the selfsame hour that we look to him, he is there.  Love you!  Have a good week!