Haruna wanted "daddie" or president to baptize him. It was an amazing baptism. We had two potential investigators come to the baptism and will now be teaching both of them. The spirit was so strong there! One of Haruna's African friends came and after feeling the spirit that was there, she came up to us afterwards and said that her family died and she felt a happiness at the baptism she wants more of in her life. We had a lesson with her last night where she explained her situation more. Things are crazy in Africa. I feel for them. I don't understand what they feel, but I love them to death. Haruna had a crazy night, the night of his baptism. His roommate decided to invite a whole bunch of people over to "celebrate" his baptism. They brought alcohol and a lot of very sketchy people and other stuff. His roommate was drunk and then got in a fight with him because he wouldn't participate and didn't agree with what they were doing. He called us crying; I felt so bad for him. He stayed strong so I am super happy for him. He is already converted! We came over in the morning and he packed up all his stuff into this tiny suitcase and he stayed at the church for a few hours. He was confirmed and then we got him a bus ticket back to Colorado where his family lives. He says he is going to save some money and move back with his family. I hope they come back when I am still here. He is an amazing guy. I thought for a little bit yesterday that we might have just baptized him to baptize him and that he may not have been ready. After further reflection, I concluded that his roommate opened him up and he wouldn't have met with us if it wasn't for his roommate. God had prepared him to receive the ordinance of baptism and literally the next night he ended up back in Colorado. I know he will find the church there and I know that he will bring the missionaries to teach the rest of his family. That may have been the only reason God wanted him to come to Utah. I know he was ready.
Member trust is really going up. They love us and I absolutely love Utah Mormons. They are so kind to us. Russ was also baptized yesterday in a different service. Russ had been smoking for 35 years and stopped cold turkey with the program that we have here. The program completely integrates God into every level. It truly shows that with Gods help all things are possible. Russ is also very converted. He had been meeting with missionaries for a very long time. It was so amazing to see him make it! The ward supported him in every phase and so many were there at his baptism. There are so many people coming out of the wood work. I am so tired and exhausted. There is so much work here.
Curtis is another person we are teaching. He is great! I love him. He too has had a super hard life. He tried to kill himself at one point and recently his brother did too. Anyways we asked him to say a prayer at the end of our lesson and he just started crying and pouring out his heart to God. He is doing everything that he is supposed to and I know that he will start to see some awesome miracle blessings!
Anyways thanks for the love and the emails. Love you all
-Elder Bass
Later Notes: President and Sister Eberhardt took Elder Thompson and I out after the baptism. We went to Arbys.
I remember one mini fight we got in when i threw snow at him in the car. He was like, "dude the car is the safe zone." One of my weaknesses is to take jokes to far and making fun of people when they are being serious. Still working on it...
One experience that we had was with Brother Milner (a man who played a big role in this area). He found someone for us to teach. He brought them to his home and we taught them. His name was Dusti and his girlfriends name was Kelli. He accepted a baptismal date in the first lesson. Dusti was unemployed. He went home and prayed and the next day he had a job. It was a testimony to Dusti.
One experience that we had this week brought me down a little bit. We received a referral in a very wealthy neighborhood. We went there on a weekend night to contact it. They let us in and mocked us a good bit. One of the ladies said to us (mostly speaking to Elder Thompson) that we should have a drink and go home and forget about all this. (pointing to the name tag and Book of Mormon we were holding). I remember being pretty distraught about the whole thing.
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| Russ' baptism |
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| Haruna's baptism with President Eberhardt |
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