Crazy Baptism #2

I had a crazy week!  Two of our friends got baptized!!!  It's another crazy baptism story.  Not sure if I'll get one without weird problems haha.


So it all started Tuesday February 6th.  There's a sister in the ward that was inactive for years, but she has decided to come back, and bring her 8 and 11 year-old daughters back with her.  On this tuesday, we already had a baptismal date for both of them, on February 25, but we were at this sister's house and she asked us, "Hey, can we do the baptism this Sunday instead?"  We said yes, of course, but after leaving her house we were freaking out a little!  (For context, this ward has an oddly strict policy that the ward needs a 10 day notice before a baptism to help prepare everything, which is dumb because they make the missionaries prepare everything.  I don't get it, but I just know last time we broke the policy, we were chewed out harshly by the Elders Quorum President and the 1st Counselor in the bishopric)


We started freaking out just a little bit.  We spent some time preparing a couple things and informing members, but the EQP sorta shut it down.  He did it in the nicest way possible and also said we could still have the baptism if needed (Of course, we don't actually need permission from the EQP).  He said if they were willing to wait another week, we should.  And so we did, partially to avoid getting chewed out.


Eventually, we got everything organized and ready for the baptism, but we had problems with literally everything!  We had a hard time finding baptismal clothes, talks, refreshments, filling up the water, and literally everything was just super complicated.  Even the font we had to clean four times because it was always dirty water and one of the girls has sensitive skin (the water never actually got better, and it took a total of about 8 hours!)  Even the morning of the baptism, the hermana told us that something came up, and she didn't think the baptism would happen.  In the end, due to many prayers, everything was sorted out and we had the baptism! It was super awesome and the girls were super happy!


Also I want to talk a bit about the greetings here in Paraguay.  It's a little weird!  First of all you have to personally greet every single person, no matter how many there are.  It's not just because I'm a missionary either.  Everybody gives a handshake to every one.  If not, they probably have beef with you.  Second, their version of a handshake is a bit weird.  They completely take out the shake part.  You grab each others hands, look each other in the eyes for 2 awkward seconds, then let go and move on.  No movement at all!  You have to be careful though, because if you grab someone's hand the wrong way it's highly offensive!


Overall I'm doing pretty great!  I love learning and teaching about Christ!  He truly loves and cares for each one of us.  He answers our prayers!  Have a great week!


Élder Blacker





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