THE BAPTISM BUCKET BRIGADE

Feliz Navidad, mis amigos, mi familia, etc!


Haha, sounds like Christmas is pretty crazy at home, as usual, of course! It kinda feels weird without all the concerts and hooplah that you usually go through, but its still Christmas time! We've celebrated with extra activities, watching g rated movies ("Imagine That" with Eddie Murphy was pretty good), a Mission Conference on Friday (no singing Fireside for the public like in June, sad... President  isn't very musically inclined...) and yeah, to top it off, transfers on Tuesday. Excellent. I'm very confident I will be staying, so yeah, I'm not worried about adjusting to a new place. But man, thats no fun for all the missionaries that will be transfered...  And as for the cold, our zone leaders fixed our heat in our apartment now (ha, yeah, that was dumb, didnt realize it was broken..) so its warmer, and we're not outside tracting too much. It is cold, but not deadly freezing or anything. Thermals and sweaters will do the trick.

This has been a pretty crazy transfer, but fun. Layton is a great place, with great members. There are several families with sons on missions, so they call us frequently to ask if we want food, or this or that - we're cared for. The branch here has over 200 people too! Usually they have less than 80... And- OH yeah, I almost forgot - so the main event of this past week was Oscar - I think I mention him in the last email, he's a 19 year old, and he's living with some members of the branch for a few weeks. He has been to church a ton in other wards, and loves it. He decided he wanted to be baptized, and called us up. The catch is that he had to leave to LA again to his home on Monday. So, we taught him all he needed to know in 7 days! Sweet investigator, good guy. Weird that we taught in Spanglish, and got to know him pretty well. It felt weird talking to someone more our age, getting to know him a little better. Anyways, he always told us that he felt the Spirit when he prayed ("Hey, I felt it again last night!") and read a lot of the book of mormon. Talked a lot about going on a mission someday!  Then on Saturday we had the baptism! CRAZY, beacuse when we got there, the font didn't work. Only a trickle of water. After 20 minutes and only an inch of water, we had to switch plans fast - the baptism was starting in like 1 hour, and usually it takes 2 hours to fill normally. So, we opened up all the bathrooms and changing rooms, and found the showers that actually worked... then found all the trash bins that looked cleaner, washed them out, and filled them up, running bucket after bucket to the font, like 10 gallons at a time, for 45 minutes. It was exhausting. Absolutely crazy. BUT it got filled, and was ready at 4:00! Sheesh. And the printer of a member didn't work, so we made a program handwritten, pasting picutres we cut out of a pamphlet to the front and photocopying it. All in all, 40 people showed, including non members, and Oscar was baptized. It was a powerful service, and a sweet experience. The next morning he was confirmed a member of the Church, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. And now he's gone! CRAZY. But it was sweet, how much the Lord worked through him, and let us work with him!

Haha, is the Hansen's van still in Grandma's yard?

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jeffrey, good job getting to 17, and with the play and all. Sounds like the party was fun, stop losing phones...

Amy, get better! Hannakuh is definitely important!  (THAT was funny).. as well as Continent Day! Can't have Christmas without em... glad to hear Reagan is still feeling optimisitc.

THANK YOU Magura family for the cookies! I think I didn't mention that last week - they were delicious. We loved them - and they helped keep some elders involved during a district meeting I was teaching, so many thanks! And Grandma Pat, the office called me and told me a christmas elf dropped off a package - and they hand delivered it to Layton - the christmas candy is excellent, it feels a lot more like Christmas with your window candy and almond roca and such, mmmm... thank you! And we're enjoying the extra lunches at McDonalds! Thank you so much! We're going to cash the check as soon as possible!

Well, family, the work is good here. A lot is changing, and things are always getting better. We're finding many people, and people really do want the gospel. We talked with a man who doesn't believe in God, or if He does exist, He surely doesn't love him. We felt inspired to share a scripture - 3 Nephi 9:13-15 - and as we explained that there is a Savior, and He can heal us, his eyes teared up, and he changed his manner of speaking and treating us. He felt it! I know this gospel is true. It is the plan. He IS the Savior, the Messiah, the Way. Heavenly Father lives and loves us, and if we exercise a little faith, the blessings flow.

Merry Christmas to all! Peace on earth, good will to men.

Love all,

Elder Chris



Ps No frank and bob package yet...

PPs The ship began to sink. "EVERYONE IN THE SUB!" cried the penguins. They all went below and zoomed off just as the ship sunk underwater. As they drifted past the ginormous iceburg, Heidi spied something on the bottom. It looked like a cave. "Lets check that out!" said Amy. "I dunno" said Holly. As the sub got closer, they saw...

Ppppps I'll figure out the contacts asap, but havent been able to get to Ogden..,

PPppppppps Elder T says he wants an alarm clock. So he can get up on time. A really loud one, that is difficult to shut off, and by the end, leaves one VERy awake. his exact words were "anything is good", but i think thats what he meant...