Dear friends,
This
has been hands down the best week of my mission so far. I have had so
many incredible experiences. I do not know what I did to deserve them,
but I thank my Father in heaven every single day that I have been
privileged to witness them.
The
first part of the week was comparably uneventful. District meeting in
Bristol, exchange with Bath, a little bit of finding. Nothing too crazy.
This weekend, however was a TOTALLY different story.
Friday
we had three major events- Shelby’s baptism, interviews with President
Millar, and I got a haircut. I will expand on the first two.
We
were told that President would be arriving at the Trowbridge chapel at
4:30 to begin interviews with us and the Bath Elders. As such, we
diligently arrived to open the chapel and make preparations for the
interview and the baptism at 4. About five minutes after we got there,
we received a voicemail from President informing us he would be there at
5:30, just 90 minutes before the baptism was to occur. STRESS.
So,
we proceeded to make the baptismal program and… well… wait (waiting and
stress became a theme that night.) The Bath Elders arrived, ready for
interviews but we had nothing to do… so we messed around on the organ
until President got there. When he arrived, interviews commenced
immediately. They went very well! He got all of his missionaries a new
mini Preach My Gospel (best early Christmas present ever.) He then
informed us that he and Sister Millar would be staying for the baptism.
NO PRESSURE. We then turned our attention to the baptismal font we had
began filling upon our arrival to the chapel. To our surprise, the font
was still filling, well over the drain. It had filled to such a height
that it was VERY close to flooding over into the bathrooms… uh oh. We
had been told that the font filler stops automatically. Eventually,
however, it did. For this I am eternally grateful.
Then,
the actual baptism began. All went well. Sister Allsworth and I sang I
Need Thee Every Hour so that was a blast. Then we all proceeded into the
Primary room to see the baptism. Elder Jones (my trainers trainer aka
my Grandpa plus he served in Trowbridge and helped begin teaching
Shelby) stood as witnesses by the curtains, awaiting the signal to open
the curtains so the baptism could happen. This did not happen. It was
evident that she was VERY nervous and saying that she wouldn’t be
baptized. We stood in the room for an incredibly uncomfortable 10
minutes (keep in mind that we have President and Sister Millar in
attendance) until Bishop awkwardly asked us to return to the chapel.
We
then sat in the chapel for about 20 minutes, conversing and such. At
one point Elder Hanks was asked to play the piano and kept messing up so
Bishop asked him “what hymn was that Elder?” It was starting to get a
bit irreverent and the whole thing was just not good.
Then
the miracle came. Elder Castro went up to the pulpit and silenced
everyone and essentially said “Shelby is afraid and needs our prayers.”
He then offered one of the most sincere and powerful prayers I have ever
heard. Someone who was standing in the hall, monitering the two
situations, informed us that she was baptized at the very moment that
Elder Castro said amen. What a powerful witness regarding both faith and
prayer! I am so grateful to have witnessed and been a part of that
experience. I am also grateful that we had so many people there,
including our dear President, to experience that with us. We then
enjoyed delicious refreshments provided by… well, I am not quite sure
who they were provided by. But they were good. We then topped off the
night by getting a delicious kebab.
So
then… conference. Ummm MISSION AGE CHANGE? Incredible! What an inspired
announcement. I am so excited to see how this impacts the mission
field. For starters, I think we will get A LOT more sister missionaries.
Truly a blessing, because sisters are infinitely better missionaries
than us Elders hahaha. Conference in general was great! Unfortunately we
have not been able to see the Sunday afternoon and Priesthood session
yet, but I am sure we will soon. Charlie was able to go to Priesthood
session though! He was also at the baptism, where he unknowingly sat
next to President Millar and excitedly told him that he too was being
baptized next Saturday! Excitement is abound in Trowbridge.
I
received a flood of emails this morning from friends and family
regarding the missionary announcement. I am so proud of everyone who has
decided to serve a mission and am honored to have been told about it! I
also had the pleasure of talking with Harrison and Ariana, who stayed
up til 3 AM so they could talk to me for an hour or two! I have the best
friends in the world. I’ll send some pictures along later! I love all
of you so much. The work will press on. This gospel is true along with
the Book of Mormon. Have a phenomenal week!
With all the love I can give,
Elder Frederickson
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