Phillip had a very wonderful (and very lengthy) phone conversation with his family on Christmas Day!
He said he had a message for both of his loyal blog readers:
"As the new year begins, may we all begin anew our committment to good music, good food, our family, and the gospel of Jesus Christ!"
Of course Phillip's parents worried about the potential “homesickness” that naturally results from the Chrismas calls, but Phillip and his companion had a baptism (a Mom and Dad and 8 year old daughter) scheduled for later that evening which all agreed would be the single best remedy to any homesickness that might result from the Christmas phone call!
The following are excerpts from his email on Monday reporting on the Christmas Day baptism!
Hey my favorite Christmas family: I love you!
I´ll tell you all about the baptism. I realized I forgot to tell you the whole marriage story. [The parents of course could not get baptized until they were legally married.] It was a huge fight to get them married. After their third trip into the capital and a small miracle, they got the permission to be married.
On Wednesday, the judge was a bit lazy and said that she´d rather do the ten minute service on Monday. Anyways, the Assistants to the President´s for the south talked to the judge and convinced her to do it right then. They got married without any problems.
Later that night, I ended up doing an intercambio [missionary exchange], with Elder Messidor, one of the assistants. I actually loved the intercambio with Elder Messidor. He´s Haitian, goes home in about two weeks, and is a stud missionary. He definitely teaches like the Book of Mormon Prophets with power and authority.
But back to the baptism. They all showed up to the Church with no problems. They all had a lot of animo (excitement) to be baptized. They decided that Elder Urry would baptize the Mom and the little girl, and that I would baptize the Dad. The baptisms were great. I didn´t get the Dad fully into the water the first time, but the second time was perfect. My shirt got all wet and I forgot to bring another one, but no worries. It feels good wearing a damp shirt all night.
We went to the family´s house after the baptism to celebrate with them. When the Mom prayed at the end of the night, she was truly grateful for the feeling she felt that night. She definitely prays with her heart and she knows that she´s talking to God. Something that I can work on in my life. They all showed up to Church on time to receive the Holy Ghost, then the Dad bore his testimony.
I Love...the people...of the world!
Elder Phil
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