Elder Jordan Stanford: On baptisms, relationships, and unity.

Hey all!

This week: the zone leaders had two more baptisms. This time it was a couple - a guy from Congo (of course) and a Belgian woman. They had to get married and quit smoking before their baptism, and they did both!

I got to go to their house this week on an exchange and eat there, and then we are at a member family's house last night too, thus getting double the Liège mangez-vous count in one week than I had gotten until that point.

So we brought our ami Toussaint to the baptism, and he brought his girlfriend and three kids! Really a beautiful family. The only thing that would make them more beautiful would be if they were married and sealed for eternity...but hey...we're gonna work with them for that!

Anyway, after the baptism, Toussaint told me that when he watched it, he just "wanted to get up right then and there and go into the font too." He said he's ready. We'll teach him more this week, and especially his wife. More updates to follow. But you guys...invite your friends to baptismal services! Especially convert baptisms.

Nothing can go wrong.

I mentioned the member family that we visited last night. First of all, we got there early so we decided to knock doors for 20 minutes.

And we actually had someone give us her phone number and invite us back! I can count on one hand the number of times that's happened on my mission (this is #4). And we usually don't even get the number.

But that's not the cool part. Before the member visit, my comp and I had a bit of a disagreement on what we should share for a spiritual thought. I wanted to just do a classic missionary message about how we can share the gospel with our friends, and he wanted to do something about Moroni 10:3-5 and how we need to pray to know spiritual truths even as members. Eventually I decided to not be so stubborn and to be unified with my companion instead. And I guess I'm not always right, because when we shared Elder Orton's message it actually went really well. We got a text later that night from the mother saying "Your message was just perfect! [My son] has been having some doubts and is looking for a reason to keep coming to church. You are great missionaries and brought a good spirit into our home! Thank you for being a blessing to us." So that was a super humbling experience that I'm glad I was able to have. And they invited us to come back soon (:

Love you all! Feed the missionaries! Share the gospel by extending invitations to your friends! Be faithful!

Elder Stanford