What a Week!

So for starters, this week was going okay, and we met with a few of our investigators. We found out last Sunday that the one was ready to be baptized, so she was interviewed this last Friday, and she's all set to go and we set a date for the 8th of January with her.

That same day we met with another investigator who had the baptism date for yesterday, the 11th. There was a stake activity yesterday as well that involved the baptism room.

On another note, we thought he had a problem with tasting wine for his cooking class. We thought he wasn't going to be able to be baptized the coming Sunday. He has a slight mental handicap so we aren't able to convey information very well to each other. It took a bit, but we finally got out of him that he cooks the wine first, so there is no alcohol problem.

We then contacted the ZL's and through a series of information we thought we still couldn't do it on the 11th. Then they talked to our mission president, who talked to the stake president and got it worked out that we still could baptize him.

We ended up using the Tarzana building, which happens to be the area where Elder Grow serves. So he was there and filled up the font so we could do the baptism. That Sunday we invited everyone to come, and with the stake activity, hardly anybody showed up, but it was okay because he didn't want a huge baptism anyway. He wanted bishop to baptize him, but he couldn't be there, and none of the counselors could be there so the secretary was there and was the one to baptize him. I think he himself is a convert and it was his first baptism he'd done so it was a great experience all around!

We got the pictures of everybody, and one of all the missionaries, including Elder Grow, and it was a really cool event. Also for the baptism, we had no program, and so right before church we were allowed to use the clerks office and I was able to throw together a program for it. Pretty cool and a great baptism for a last minute thing.

After the baptism we went to the stake activity where we got to dress up as roman centurions and we did a thing called Journey to Bethlehem. We used almost the whole stake center for it. We started in the Chapel and then went to a room with King Herod where he charged his "subjects" the people we were leading through, to find the Christ child and bring him word. Then we took them to the stage where the 3 wise men were, and they did their thing. Then we went to an inn and the people there had to turn them away because the inn was full and talked about seeing Mary "big with child and her time was very close" and then we went to the angel room where they sang and prophesied concerning Christ. Then we went to the shepherds room where they talked about Christ too. Then we went to the room with Joseph, Mary, and Christ. In each room they got something to take with them, some were snacks, and at the end they got a CD of a song about Christmas.

Herod gave them a coin as a token for them to bring him news, the wise men gave them animal crackers to sustain them on their journey, and the people at the inn gave them pretzel sticks, and the angels gave them a candle to take the light of Christ, and the shepherds gave them a candy cane, and Mary and Joseph didn't give them anything, but they got the CD after that.

It was a pretty cool thing, and we were showed where to take the people once, and that was right before it started. We didn't say anything really, just led them along. The only exception was when we started, we would pound on the curtain divider things the churches all have, and say "We seek an audience with Herod the King!" Or some rendition of that. Pretty cool activity, we should try that some time.

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Elder Huffaker