Gretchen Gets Her First Baptism!

Gretchen and her companion have been teaching a gentleman for a number of weeks and he was baptized last Saturday! After all, that is the very goal of missionary work. She had commented in an earlier e-mail:

"Another huge push is to place an emphasis on the doctrine of Christ. I didn't know until now that the actual doctrine of Christ happens to be baptism. It's very cool--in the scriptures, the very few times we hear from the Father Himself is in relation to baptism. (See 2 Nephi 31 for example.) Anyway, I feel very fortunate to be here at a time where things are really starting to get going. Mission leaders have also said that the temple is going to bring thousands flocking and we have to be ready for it. So it's a very exciting time to be here and I'm beginning to feel like things are actually starting to click."

Back to the baptism, Gretchen noted that the gentleman being baptized was "was very excited, but also a little nervous (understandably). His mom came, which was a big deal, and we had a great turnout from the ward. Everyone brought treats and had a great time. (The only downside was that the church got really hot, because I SWEAR Canadians don't believe in air conditioning.)"

Gretchen seems to be having a number of Chinese cross-cultural experiences that she has discussed in her letters home. She and her companion are teaching several Chinese families and she went on a missionary split (a temporary assignment with a different companion; typically for a few hours or a day) last week with a Sister Missionary from China serving in Vancouver. Last week she also noted: "Today we went to Chinatown again because we had to get our oil changed. It was lots of fun and I took some great pictures."

Unfortunately we don't have any pictures to post this week but should have some for our next entry!

Gretchen's Quote for the Week:

"Love books and reject idleness." -Camilla Kimball