Baptism Bus

Almost every evening we can hear the loudspeaker and horn from a basketball court about a block away from our apartment.  They love the game and have regular tournaments.  One evening I decided to walk down and observe.  The announcer said, “We acknowledge the presence of Elder Missionary at the game tonight.”  I felt like a celebrity and waived.  To my disappointment, nobody applauded.  The announcer came over after the game started and I learned that he was a member of the church.  We talked basketball until he had to get back to his post, as the first quarter was ending.  That was a fun evening!

Saturday we attended a Baptism at the Naguilian Branch.  I drove one of the Mission vans with 10 people on board.  Sister Roberts called it the “Baptism Bus”.  The Baptism was at 4PM on a very hot day and the building had no air conditioning.  We sweated terribly waiting for the meeting to begin.  All in attendance were blessed with the spirit as 3 new members were baptized.

Our faithful elderly Sister came as she always does. She is a wonderful example of the Doctrine of Christ thru enduring to the end.  Her birthday is tomorrow and she will be 81.

 I think everyone there would have liked to get into the outdoor font just for the opportunity to cool off.

Sunday morning we went back to the same building for Sacrament meeting.  When it was over we found that the roads all around the building had been covered with corn that the locals put out to dry.  They do this all the time and no one gets upset when you have to drive over it in your vehicle.  It just feels strange.

After the Sacrament Meeting, we drove back to Cauayan to catch the primary children in the 2nd Branch before they dismissed.  Sister Roberts had collected copies of ‘The Friend’, published in their local language, and she wanted to pass them out to the children.  

We found them taking turns reading from the Book of Mormon.  You could see the excitement in their eyes to each have their own magazine with bright colorful pictures, stories they could read and pictures they could color.  Coincidentally, the artist who did the front cover is the son-in-law of one of the other Senior Couples serving with us.

Elder Roberts