Week 36: Cathy Got Baptized!!!!!

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday night was Cathy's baptism interview!! It went great! while we were waiting for the interview Sister Tusi (member) and all the other missionaries were singing "Ye Elders of Israel" in the foyer....IT WAS THE BEST EVER!!!!!!!!! It was like I was back in Chamber Choir hahahah

Monday we also went on exchanges I was with Sister Lai again! We had fun and found some cool people! One of them is Gurj! We were walking past him on the street and we said hello! He said, "What are you doing?" We said, "We'ere missionaries!" He said that was SO COOL!!! He had to run, but we got his number and we're going to meet with him again!!! That all took place in like 1 min!!!

Tuesday we had lots of lessons!! We met with this 90 yr old Japanese lady! She cracked me up!! She wasn't too interested in gospel conversation, but afterward she just gave us a bag full of food!!!! EVERYONE THINKS MISSIONARIES ARE STARVING!!!!!! haha We probably aren't because everyone just gives us food!!!!!!  Just a little bit of food is good...don't get carried away people!! We had a lesson with Cathy every day this week to prepare her for her baptism on Saturday!! We read the Book of Mormon everyday and the Spirit just got stronger every day!!! Tuesday we also had dinner with a part member family and asked the husband to take the lessons just to see what we are about and he said YES!!!!!!!!!!!! That made us happy :) Wednesday we had a good day...we saw Beth :) She is our Brookswood Mom! She is just the best!! We read The Living Christ with her and then we got lost in Jesus the Christ looking up all sorts of deep doctrine stuff!!! It was quite fun!! I realized I know my scriptures and doctrine better than I thought!!! Thanks Preach my Gospel :) Thursday we met with Sunita!! She is from Fiji! We taught her the Restoration again and she wants to learn more and said she would read and pray about the Book of Mormon!!! It was a good lesson!! She said, "He doesn't believe...do I have to leave him??" We said OH HEAVENS NO!!! haha She said well he needs to believe...she seemed kind of bummed...hahah I think she wanted us to play along and force him to believe hahaha After we went and helped the Primary President prepare for the Mother's Day Breakfast on Saturday. She had made Soap Roses and I had to hand write every tag!! My inner creative self was in heaven!!! We had a great lesson with Cathy that night and we talked about Baptism and Confirmation! We showed the video of Jesus being baptized to the kids and her and her son said, "Mom you have to wear white and look like Jesus." It was so cute!!! Then he said he didn't want to be baptized (he's 4) we asked him why he said he doesn't like putting his face under water hahha he is so adorable!!! Good thing he has 4 more years to practice!! Friday we met with Jolene!! We invited her to be baptized, but she said she still wants to learn more!! Which is fine with us!! Baptism is an important thing to work up too!! We also met with Betty...if you recall she's the one who stopped us on the street 2 months ago and asked if we were on our break and if we could answer her question about the Book of Mormon!! Turns out she has been reading the Doctrine and Covenants! We asked her where she got ahold of a triple combination {Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price} and she said she ordered it....WHO ARE YOU?!?! AWESOME!!! She also said, "I know I should read it everyday." It was almost like she was a member trying to test us....hahah she could flip open to the chapters quicker than I could!!! We'll keep you posted on her!! hahah

FINALLY SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CATHY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our day was SO busy!! It takes 5 hours to fill the font so we had to clean it and start it early!! It was a great service!! Every baptism I've had has minor crisis! This one we didn't have a pianist!! We called everyone in the ward and no one could play!! LUCKILY Canada is awesome and has digital pianos in every building it seems like! So I got to press the buttons and make it look like I'm Mozart or something :) It was fun! Cathy asked me to give the Baptism talk before she is baptized! I talked about the symbolism and the covenants we make when we are baptized

1) Take upon us the Name of Christ

2) Keep his Commandments and Always remember him

3) Serve the Lord

It was fun little talk! I tried to make it short so she could get baptized faster!! I used this quote from General Conference 2 years ago from Jean A. Stevens: Covenant Daughters of God:

"Think back and picture your own baptismal day. Whether you can remember many details or just a few, try to feel now the significance ofthe covenant you individually made. Having been called by your own name, you were immersed in water and came forth as God’s daughter a covenant daughter, one willing to be called by the name of His Son and promising to follow Him and keep His commandments, Covenants with God help us to know who we really are. They connect us to Him in a personal way through which we come to feel our value in His sight and our place in His kingdom. In a way we can’t fully comprehend, we are known and loved individually by Him. Think of it each of us holds such a place in His heart. His desire is that we will choose the path that will bring us home to Him."

CATHY WAS SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!! We ran down the hall of the church to the baptismal font!! She was jumping and just so happy to be baptized!!! It was a great moment!! After she was baptized and we met her in the changing room {this is the best part because you get to talk to them right after they are baptized!!!!} She said she was sad it was over and she felt so clean and pure!!! Then she said I'm so cold hahahahhaha Love her!! Sister Brimhall and I also sang a musical number with two little girls in our ward they are 4 and 7 and IT WAS ADORABLE!!!! We sang I Am A Child of God! They did the first verse and then we joined it! Little kids just bring the spirit!!!! Cathy's non-member friends came and her parents, so we had a great night socializing and just seeing how happy Cathy was!!! Us missionaries, Elders and Sisters, pitched in to buy her a Quad so she could have her very own scriptures!! It was such a fun day and she was so excited to read her new scriptures!!! Sunday Cathy was confirmed and you could just tell afterwards that she is totally different!! The Holy Ghost really makes the difference!!! She was different in every good way possible!! She just gleams with the Spirit!! The Elders Quorum in our ward held a CREPE BAR BREAKFAST for all the mom's and sisters!!! IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!! Best Mother's Day ward present ever!!! Better than little candies because then the kids won't steal them from their mom, better than flowers because...lets be honest CREPES ARE THE BEST!! It was really fun and such a treat!! Sunday we also got to SKYPE HOME WITH OUR FAMILIES!!!!!!!!!! It was great!!! I love my family especially my mommy so that was great to talk to her and wish her a Happy Mother's Day in person!! Next time I Skype it will be Christmas!!!! After Skyping we went to dinner and we had Mushu Pork {excuse the spelling...probably wrong but it's pronounced like the little dragon from Mulan :)} IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!! I'm trying lots of foods her in Canada I would never eat a home!! They also served us corn on the cob MY FAVORITE!!! haha They are a really great family! They serve at the Bishop's storehouse and help us with missionary work :) I have a funny joke to tell ya.... I shared it with my family last night. Cathy told it to us...

She said do you know how they named our country? 

They put letters in a bowl and picked some out....

 "C" eh?    "N" eh?    "D" eh? 

Thus we get C.A.N.A.D.A!!!! 

HAHAHAHHA we thought it was hilarious!!!!!!!!

We ended our night at Cathy's because no one else was home and they all had Mother's Day plans!!! We had a scripture chase with Cathy, so she could learn how to use her Scriptures!! It was fun!! Overall it was a great week!!!!!!!!!! We got to see one of our friends get Baptized!! She is so happy and excited to learn!! I hope you all had a fantastic mother's day!! I especially love my mom and I'm so grateful for her and her sacrifices in my behalf!!! I love you Mum!!!
Love,
Sister Peterson