Posted by:
Brother Zelph
(
)
Date: April 30, 2014 02:35PM
Highlights for those that only caught part of it. Now that the site is down, it is hard to find all the Google cached pages, so I compiled them all in one place.
February
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://brookemission.blogspot.com/2014_02_01_archive.htmlWednesday, February 19, 2014
I don't know if I have ever mentioned Leonard... He's an older man in an electric wheelchair, who doesn't really bathe... Haha. ANYWAY. He is probably the most stubborn person I know. For real. He's so set in his ways we've talked about dropping him a few times. But we never did. We've tried many different tactics on this fellow. And they're working! His heart is being softened, it's so cool. He's finally started praying out loud for us and reading the scriptures out loud with us. And on Sunday, HE CAME TO CHURCH! We've only been trying to get him there for like a month plus. He only stayed for sacrament meeting but he said that next Sunday he would stay for Sunday school. NEXT WEEK! Hah! There is hope for crazy stubborn old men! Never give up! Let's just say that we can see him in white... soon. We have an appointment with him in like a half hour and we're gonna talk about baptism... Pray for him!
Monday, February 24, 2014
We invited Leonard, the stinker, to be baptized again, his response this time was, "Well, where's the font?" Haha. So not exactly a yes, but it's heading that direction, I can feel it! And he came to church again on Sunday. He loves all the little kids, it's so cute. I'm going to try to get a picture of this guy for you by next week. You need a visual. Trust me.
March
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://brookemission.blogspot.com/2014_03_01_archive.htmlMonday, March 3, 2014
I just gotta say, I'm sorry, I forgot to get a picture of Leonard for you all. That will be my mission this week! Don't let me forget okay? But Leonard is crazy! He's so good! He offered to buy us dinner the other day, which was the sweetest thing ever! He likes us, I know it! When I first met him he was a grumpy old man and was sooooo stubborn it was painful to talk to him. Now, he's coming to church and playing with the little kids and telling us that we're "alright!" and "alright" from Leonard is like the best compliment you can get! So we were just super honest and open with him about baptism, we wanted to get to the bottom of why he's hesitant about it. And we figured it out! It really is just because he's scared of water. So we are going to see what we can do to jump that hurdle. Pray for us! Or give us any ideas you may have!...
P.S. Sorry there's no picture this week. The picture of Leonard next week should make up for it! ;)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://brookemission.blogspot.com/2014/03/hey-everyone-so-i-got-picture-of.htmlTuesday, March 11, 2014
So I got the picture of Leonard but I had to sneak it in while he was reading from the Book of Mormon... so you can only kind of see his face. But that counts right? We had a branch talent show this week and we have invited him to it like 10 times and he keeps saying no, "he doesn't do talent shows." Well, that's a lame excuse. Anyway so we were driving over there and we see his little scooter heading to the church we were freaking out we were so excited. Like jumping up and down and all that. It was awesome! And not only did he stay for the whole thing but he socialized after. This man does not know how to socialize. But he did! I felt like a proud mom or something kinda like that. Oh AND he came to church the next day and stayed two hours AND he gave us each $20 because he loves us and know we're poor! He's awesome.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://brookemission.blogspot.com/Tuesday, March 18, 2014
I know I didn't mention Leonard this week, but don't worry. He's doing good. We're trying to get him to the waters of baptism by the 29th. Think if I tell him it would be the best birthday present ever he would say yes?
Monday, April 7, 2014
LEONARD'S GOING SWIMMING! He who hates water so much so that a proper bath has not happened in years is entering into the WATERS of baptism this Friday the 11th of April! He will be getting baptized at the community pool, they have a mechanism for handicapped people and he will not only be clean physically but spiritually! We are thrilled. And how we got him to do it was sneaky. We went to see him as normal, and the first thing we say after we sit down and pray is, "So Leonard, the only thing left to do for your baptism is to pick someone to baptize you!" (At this point he hasn't agreed yet.) And just as smoothly as that he was like.... "Ok, but I'm bad with names." So we continued to plan it all out. We're so so excited for him! Wahooooo!
4-14-2014
So, yes, Leonard got baptized on Friday evening, and we were able to talk him into having some of the the priesthood help carry him into the font so we could do it at the church and have a little bit more reverent setting. It was great! We had an awesome father and daughter from the branch who have befriended him give the talks and then we headed to the font. It was funny you could hear him cracking jokes with the Elders, who were helping him into the water. Despite the fact that he had to go under twice because his little pinky was sticking out and that he coughed/choked a little on water, it went perfectly. OH! I forgot to mention something funny that I did. Remember, I've told you that Leonard is a little stinky... haha. Well, I had a little bit of my body wash left and so when we were going to fill up the font, we squirted it in there and it filled up with bubbles that we thought would go away by the time the font had filled.... Well we come back a couple hours later and the bubbles are still there! In fact they're everywhere and there's a lot of them. So, we had to use a broom and sweep them out into a bucket! We didn't want anyone to know that we were trying to freshen him up. Haha. But we got them out and no one noticed! We're sneaky. ;) Anyway, after he was baptized, we had a part in the program for people to bear testimonies and so many people did it was AWESOME! And when Sister Aulner and I bore ours he cried a little. It was the sweetest thing! Oh man, we just love this man. He's harsh on the outside, but inside he's all gooey and DEFINITELY filled with the light of Christ.