This week was - by the end of
it - rather successful. The week started off a little weird since normally
Mondays are our P-Days but this week (the first week of the transfer) was
temple P-Day so it got shifted to Tuesday in order to let us attend the temple.
Temple trips are always fun since, well, we go to the temple, but also we for
all intents and purposes get free reign on all of Tri-Cities and the plethora
of stores and restaurants it has to offer. So what did we do? We went to
Wendy's. Only logical choice. But besides that, it was a rather boring day. We
drove the hour back and since we had nothing else to do (all the other
missionaries were scattered throughout their areas in varying stages of shopping)
we decided to finally finish unpacking all my stuff and clean/organize the
apartment. It was extremely mundane but it was well needed.
After that the week was
relatively normal. Had exchanges with the Elders in North Pasco and the ward we
were working in that day was a ward that covered all the farm country north of
Pasco. It was entertaining having to drive 20 minutes between houses in hopes
that someone would be there. Apart from that, the week was rather uneventful
until Saturday.
Saturday we had the baptismal
service of Nick. Let me tell you a little about Nick. Nick's parents joined the
church about 3 years ago but soon after fell away when he returned to drinking
and since she had only joined in hopes that he would stop drinking, they didn't
have much reason to stay and so they stopped coming. Well fast forward to two
months ago, when Nick's uncle invites the missionaries over to come meet with
him (since he himself was also inactive at the time) and upon arrival at Nick's
parents’ house (where his uncle was staying) the missionaries discover that
Nick never got baptized at 8 (he is now 9 at this point), so long story short,
they start teaching him. From what I understand (I come into the scene only
about two weeks before his baptism) it was a little rocky at first seeing as
his parents weren't the biggest fans of the church and weren't opposed but
weren't actively supporting him either. It took several weeks to finally get
them to come to church, and to meet with us on a regular basis, but then a
miracle started happening. As the missionaries continued to teach Nick, his
parents would listen in and over time became more and more supportive. As Nick
was receiving the lessons and keeping the commitments he was left with, the
Light of Christ started to work on his parents and slowly but surely they
started opening up more and more and started to bring Nick and his younger
siblings to church. By the time Nick's baptism rolled around, they were a 100%
for it. They started inviting friends and were even defending their son when
friends started to throw anti at him and criticize their decision about Nick
learning more. It was truly inspiring to see the Light of Christ and the Spirit
working within them to help them open up again to the Gospel. They still have a
bit to go as a couple but the Dad is super excited to be active in the Gospel
again. Unfortunately his work schedule is tough but he asked us repeatedly if
he and his son would be able to accompany us to lessons and help share what
they have learned on his only day off. We heartily agreed. While it has yet to
happen, I am excited to see what it will bring. Anyways - back to Nick. So last
Saturday was his service, and it was a combined service with a lady from up in
Warden who was also getting baptized (the church in Warden doesn't have a font
so they come down to Othello to use ours). Preceding the service was a mad
house since my companion and I were tasked with making the programs and long
story short couldn't get to the final touches until early Saturday afternoon.
It was a pain and a half printing out the music (it was two songs that needed
to be on a half-page back-to-back to stuff inside the program) and after 45
minutes of toying with the printer, we finally got it to work right, only to
have the printer run out of ink (naturally). So we run across town and find a
printer in the other church that was working and get it all printed off.
Anyways, with all that said and done, the program itself went great. One of the
smoothest and best programs I've been a part of. It was great to see the
members of the ward reaching out not only to Nick but the lady from Warden. Our
numbers may not be strong, but they are among the best. It was a very emotional
moment for everyone. Hopefully it will keep Nick going strong in the
Gospel.
Aside from that, that was
pretty much the week. The quote comes from exchanges this past week as we were
driving around all the fields, and pretty much describes the whole day:
"I feel like we keep
redefining the middle of nowhere."
And with that, adios.
Elder Kupferer
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