My First Baptism Story

Ladies and Gentleman, Last week I had my first baptism.....and it was a disaster. Everything that could go wrong went wrong that night. *preface: Abner and Maria are perfect. They are the example of prepared and I love them so much. A week before their baptism, they were really freaking out and we promised them that everything that night would be perfect and they need not to worry. We were SO wrong.

Saturday night rolled around and we went to the stake center to get ready for the baptism. We ended up finding a regional stake dance going on. Yup, like 500 youth awkwardly dancing to Justin Beiber. perfect. Now don't get me wrong, I am a total fan of the Biebs, but "if I were my girlfriend..." doesn't really bring in the spirit that a missionary desires for the baptism of their investigators. It took some time but we were finally able to convince the DJ to play the music as low as possible and when the actual ordnance was taking place to turn the music off completely. 500 teens HATED us that night.

One of the reasons why Abner and Maria were so nervous for their baptism was that they were scared that a ton of people would be there. We assured them that 20 people TOPS would be there. Wellllllll, the beloved Relief Society president called and texted every single person in the ward to tell them about the baptism. The baptism area had around 60 people, we had ran out of programs, had people frantically setting up chairs, the district leader was laughing his head off at us, and were getting really funny/creative comments about the fiesta going on next door. My favorite comment of the night was

"THIS IS THE HIPPEST BAPTISM EVER!" 

I am pretty sure my response was like "this is the worst night of my life" So, we got everyone seated and were ready to go until we realized that we couldn't find Maria. Oh, you know the person getting BAPTIZED. So we were running around frantically trying to find them and every time we ran past the gym we would cover our ears and start saying the first vision in Spanish. We are so cool. We finally found Maria'a Mom and asked "Donde Esta su Hija" She said Walmart. Apparently, when she drove in she saw like 9000 cars and realized that she needed to go buy more food. bless her heart. She finally showed up, got changed, we took pictures, and tried our hardest to ignore Beyonce. ( this was a trial for me because we all know that B and I are tight) 

The baptism service started and It was so wonderful (minus the screaming mob of youth every time 1D was played) Maria's brother gave the talk on baptism and it was so beautiful. He really loves her and was so excited for her to feel the happiness that he felt. It was perfect. Maria and Abner looked so beautiful in white and I am so greatful that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to be there to see them follow the example of Jesus Christ. Maria could not stop crying. The spirit was so strong. She even said that she was so grateful she did not wait to get baptized. Happiest day ever. 

The rest of the service was perfect. It didn't even matter that we could all hear Michael Jackson's Thriller going on during the rest of the talks because Maria and Abner had chosen to follow the example of the Savior and we were all so touched by their faith. Sister Reed sang "Mas Cerca Dios De Ti" ( the Spanish version of Nearer My God To Thee) It was so beautiful and the spirit  was so powerful.

I said the closing prayer and I thanked them in it for the example that they had set for us, to put their fear aside and have faith in the One who gave his life for us. I also said that they would have the opportunity to attend the temple in a year and that they could be sealed forever and ever and that they should never lose sight of this goal. 

I remember walking out exhausted and sooo ready for bed. We walked pass the door where the youth dance was going on and "party in the USA" was being played. and I laughed so hard and then Sister Stroud, Reed and I talked about the Party that Heavenly Father must had been having in Heaving in knowing that two of his children were on there way home.