So...this week I have a boat load of really cool pictures that for some reason I can't see cuz my SD card is being a butthead...so...gonna switch over to the one that works next week! I'm really annoyed by it! They were good pictures, too! But...you'll just have to wait till I send it home to be able to see them!
But...other than that...WE BAPTIZED!!! TWICE!!!! It was an
old couple. The husband had 80 years and the mom had 85....they had been living
together for FIFTY SIX years, and had never been married! So...we got that all
fixed, and now they're clean of their sins! Success! The baptisms
were...well...VERY interesting. We had the wedding and the baptisms planned for
Saturday morning. The wedding went really well, and then we got to the baptism.
The mom was particularly upset because we got her white PANTS to wear. I guess
she has never ever worn pants in her entire life. But, after much coaxing, and
smiling from me (She's got a little old lady crush on me) she put them on. But
she kept complaining, saying things like, "They've made me a
man...pants." and, "I HATE these pants," everyone else around
her just got a good kick out of it. So, we got to the baptisms, and dad went
under really well. It was actually a really special experience for me, cuz the
guy who baptized him was his son, who we baptized about two months ago. He got
the priesthood, and LOVES the church. I have a feeling I'll be with him in the
temple in a year! I'm excited about that! But...then it was mom's turn to get
dunked. I had told them that my companion was going to do the baptism, even
though she wanted me to do it...I wanted my baby boy to get in the water. So,
he got in, and she started going VERY slow, complaining VERY loudly about how
cold the water was (Which it was QUITE fridgid) and we finally got her down,
but she was NOT going under. She just refused to let go of one of the bars that
was on the side of the baptismal font. She was waist deep in the water, but she
was really putting up a fight. I looked at my companion (this is his very first
baptism ever) and he gave me a sort of, "HELP ME" look. I looked at
my district leader who was one of the witnesses, and he said,
"Well...looks like you're going in there big fella." Those were his
words to me. I agreed. So, I popped of the shoes and the socks, pulled off my
tie, and hopped on in to help the helpless old lady, and equally helpless new
missionary! Here I come to save the day!!!! Well...I got wet. Aaaaaand she
didn't get baptized. I got down in there, tried for about two minutes, but when
I saw she was shaking, I told her we'd do it another day. She got out faster
than I've ever seen an 85 year old woman move. I need to start a new paragraph.
The saga continues.
So, we told her we would try again on Sunday. So Sunday morning we got to church two hours early to fill up the baptismal font and start the heater. It has a heater, but it is SUUUUUPER slow to heat anything up. Also, we found a member who had a heater that we could put in there. So, we let it heat for about five hours during church, and after church, we were ready to get in! The water was really quite warm...I've never baptized in water that nice before. But, we got her dressed (this time in a nice skirt!) and I got dressed to get her baptized this time. She was a little more comfortable with the idea of me baptizing her. So, we got into the font, and I got her into position and said the prayer. She didn't move. I tried to get her backwards, but she wasn't moving. So, we put a kids chair into the font so she could sit down. We got her sat down on the chair in the font facing the steps, and I sat down on the step facing her. I took her hands in mine, put my arm to the square and said the prayer. She still wasn't moving. By now her head was barely above water, so I told her to take a big deep breath....and then just SHOVED her head underneath the water. I've never felt like I was drowning someone more in my entire life. BUT...We got it done! She came up coughing, but she didn't inhale any water, and she's happy she did it now! This is definitely an experience I will remember all of my life...But I'm really happy we could finally get her baptized! Blessings!!!
Well...other than that we had a great week! We had our
Christmas activity as a mission, and that was a lot of fun! I have a ton of
pictures from it...but...well...tough luck! We got to go to the temple, and
that was just AWESOME!!! It was funny...we were sitting outside the temple
waiting, and this car drove by (there's a main road right outside the temple)
with a guy hanging a pistol out the window just shooting in the air...it was
quite the juxtaposition between the real world and in the temple. But, if
someone asked me to describe how Guatemalans celebrate Christmas, I would just
say this, "It's really hard to differentiate between the fireworks and the
gunshots" and I think that would pretty much sum it up.
I got a letter from Brandy Glaske!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Santa Clause=Brandy this year!!!
Well...all out of time! I hope everyone has an AMAZING
Christmas this year, and know that I love you all a ton! If you have burning
overwhelming desires to write me this week, do so on Sunday, cuz we'll be
emailing on Monday again next week!
Merry Navidad, Everyone!!!
Love,
Merry Navidad, Everyone!!!
Love,
Elder Hopper
P.P.S...Good luck with that whole end of the world thing
this week!!!
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