Emily Burnham: Week 14: Brady got Baptized!

Dear family and friends,

Thank y'all so much for your love and support! I had the most amazing time last night at Brady's baptism. Sister Wall and I spent the entire day at the church getting everything ready (and waiting forever for the font to fill). We had cleaned it all out on Saturday, which was its own adventure. Then that evening at 6, Brady's baptismal service started. His mom and dad were both able to come. His girlfriend, Rachel, sang a beautiful musical number, I Stand All Amazed. Everyone in the room was crying, so a member of the bishopric ran and got a box of tissues to pass around the room. A young man gave a talk on baptism and said, "I got you a little kit to help you for after you are baptized." He then pulled out a Kit-Kat candy bar and talked about how KAT stood for: keep the commandments, always remember Him, and take His name upon you.

When Brady was baptized, his parents were crying and felt the Spirit. He had a huge smile on his face as he came back up out of the water. One of the little boys that was sitting in the front stood up and said, "Yeah, Brady got baptized!" as he threw his arms in the air with a grin. That provided some comic relief for everyone. Everyone felt the Spirit so strong, and afterwards, his parents were asking questions about our beliefs. They each took a book of Mormon and pass along cards, and we taught them about the Restoration. It was such an amazing evening.

This week, I got to take the lead in everything: planning, lessons, even driving! So it was a miracle we survived :). Other highlights from the week:

Tuesday was Brady's baptismal interview (which he passed, if you were wondering ;)). The Hearns took us all out to a Mexican restaurant and I was super full afterwards.

Then on Friday, we had the last lesson with Brady before his baptism. We ate beforehand and Brady offered the prayer. In his prayer he said, "I'm grateful everyone can be here for the last lesson, before I'm baptized." Afterwards, Sister Hearn and Norris were dying with laughter at him. We had a testimony meeting after the lesson that really brought the Spirit, and Brady's testimony was so good.

On Saturday, we served at the Gulf Shore food bank with other missionaries in our district. We cleaned out at least a dozen ice-chests, during which a huge red-ant bit my finger. It started stinging and hurting, so I tried to fling it off my hand, but it valiantly hung on. I took the power hose and sprayed at it full blast... and it STILL somehow hung on! I called for Sister Wall to save me, and she took her sponge and scrubbed it off of me. Luckily it didn't swell up or start itching afterwards. We then got to take a break in the break-room, and one of the other sisters said how she chewed 36 pieces of Double-Bubble gum on a date (since their was a lot of gum in the break-room for us to have if we wanted). One of the elders took that as a challenge and started unwrapping and eating them. He only got to 17 before he gagged on it and threw it all up in the bathroom.

Funny moments:

1. I made up the best joke ever! Why do people eat spare ribs? So they can obey the Word of Wisdom and eat meat sparingly.

2. Also, the high councilman, Brother Britain, that came to church on Sunday said, "My dad's half Britain, and my mom's half Britain, so they said that makes me full Britain."

Much love,

Sister Burnham