This week I had my first baptism! Crazy
because the second day I was out here, I was the one who extended the
baptismal invite and she said yes (: Saturday was the baptism and it was
amazing. The spirit was so strong there. Her dad showed up (non-member)
and was super touched. I looked over while she was being baptized and
he was wiping away tears.
Something important for you to know is that Sister Heck will now be
known as GooGoo Monster. One day she just looked at me with this GooGoo
face, and it was all over. She calls me Lola. From Space Jam. No idea,
okay? But whenever I do something weird or dumb, she makes this googoo
face and says "Okay.... Lola..." It kills me.
This week I ate my first breakfast burrito. But WAIT, there's more. I also ate...
DRUMROLL PLEASE:
DEER.
I ATE DEER.
I
ATE AN ACTUAL BURGER MADE OUT OF DEER MEAT. THE MEAT OF A DEER. A DEER
KILLED BY A MEMBER IN OUR BRANCH AND THEN SMUSHED INTO A BURGER AND
COVERED IN CHEESE. DEER MEAT.
I cannot express my emotions as I partook of this deer-meal. My
eyes were wide. My heart was beating quickly. I tried to imagine the
cute little deer prancing about as I chewed on ACTUAL DEER MEAT. Sister
Heck thinks I'm a crazy person. I guess in Hickland it is common to kill
cute things and eat them. I am still debating on whether or not she has
a soul. I'll get back to you on that.
Two items of drama in the branch are that FIRST, I don't know if I
mentioned it but last week we had a member have a seizure during the
closing prayer of a lesson we gave to a recent convert.
And
second, one of our less actives lost her memory of the past 6 months,
thought she was still living in Texas with her baby-daddy, and can't
remember who either of the Sister Missionaries are. It's been really
fun. But honestly, she's progressing so much despite her weird spotty
questionable memory loss.
The funniest moment of the week was when me and GooGoo were saying a
prayer before planning. We had just gotten in, and she was offering the
prayer. Suddenly her voice sounds rushed, and even weirder, I hear her
swaying. A lot. Her voice goes in and out and I open my eyes to see her
eyes WIDE OPEN staring at me in complete panic, STILL praying
frantically, until she BURSTS and says "INTHENAMEOFJESUSCHRISTAMEN, I
HAVE TO PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She went RUNNING to the bathroom and I
fell on the floor laughing. Frantic peeing prayer was the highlight of
the week. Sad.
Another highlight was a prayer from our recent convert. Imagine:
tall hispanic, baggy jeans, baggy shirt, but the heart of a baby dove.
He starts out
"Dear... Heavenly Father..." You can hear him grinning.
"Thank you.. Thank you for... this AWESOME day..." He's smiling so hard you can feel it in the room.
"Thank you for... AH! Sorry! I'm just so happy!"
He starts the prayer over.
Still can't finish because he's too overjoyed.
Finally, he bursts:
"Dear God,
I LOVE YOU!
I am just SO HAPPY!
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!"
I wish I could pray with the same joy and sincerity
that he has. At the end of the prayer we were all laughing but there is
so much to learn from a prayer like that. I wish you could've heard it
and understood really what it was like to hear someone give such a real
prayer. Like he was talking to his father. I know that God was smiling
down on us in that moment. There is nothing that he delights in more
than a sincere and honest prayer from a loving child. It's not about
eloquent language or about solemn repeated phrases, we aren't just talking to a king, a divine heavenly being, we're talking to our Father.
Sorry that these are the only two pictures I have to offer this week but they're good ones.
One of them is a carrot taped to my arm. Why? HAVE YOU EVER TAPED A CARROT ON YOUR ARM? Then don't question it. Just try it.
The other is of me and Sister Heck at the baptism.
What an awesome experience.
I
have so much to learn from these converts who speak to God with so much
sincerity and reverence. When I hear them talk, I wonder where along
the way I lost what it's all really about. It isn't about having all
this scriptural knowledge and all this perfect understanding. It's about
being real. It's about remembering the nature of our Heavenly Father.
That is the first thing we ever teach:
God is our loving Heavenly Father.
Sometimes we forget that.
May we all remember this week.
Stay cute and pinch each other!
- Sister Cassie Valdez
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