A new investigator, a crazy lady, and a surprise baptism

Ginette and Roberto's baptism

 

Yesterday I had the immense privilege to attend the baptism of Ginnette and her son, Roberto. I am so happy for them both, and I'm grateful to have been part of their lives and their journey unto Christ. Some of you may be saying to yourselves, "Wait, Elder DeLong, wasn't that your LAST area?" Yes, yes it was. This is where it gets interesting. We were in Sunday School at church yesterday, and we receive a text from the Revere Elders:

"Are you going to be able to make it to Ginnette and Roberto's baptism?"
Us: "Absolutely. When is it?"
Revere: "12:30."
Us: "Today?!"
Revere: "Yeah."
Us: "Well, shoot. Give me a few minutes to call and get permission."

...nice. Way to wait until an hour and a half before it starts to invite me, Elder Langford. I had no idea they were getting baptized! I mean, I knew they would be, but I didn't know the day or the plans or anything. I frantically called the APs and got permission to go, we made the drive down in about an hour, and we got there just in time. We missed the majority of the singles' ward in Lowell, but that's okay. I had a very warm welcome in Revere, and I was able to witness two people I personally taught enter the waters of baptism and covenant with our Heavenly Father. It was a wonderful experience.

This last Monday was "Deep Clean P-day" - we got to spend our whole day cleaning the car and the apartment. Good times...the apartment really needed it though. I blame the last Elders who were here. Haha! But we got it looking (and smelling) great!

We've been all over the place this week...about two months ago, Elder Ang injured his hand. It's been bothering him lately, but he didn't want to get it checked out. Sis. Packard found out about it last week, and needless to say, she sent us right to a walk-in clinic. There we found out it's a hairline fracture, and we had to go to appointments this week with hand specialists and a radiologist. Driving all over the place isn't that fun, but I finally learned how to use cruise control! Credit for that should go to Elder Langford, since he showed me one time...I've just never used it until now. Open highways out here are absolutely beautiful, just for the record.

I've been thrilled to hear about a few friends and one of my cousins (all female) who have decided to serve missions since the announcement was made in the last General Conference. I am beyond excited for them, as I am for all the multitudes of new missionaries the Church is sure to receive in the coming months.

Two really good stories for you guys this week: one scary, one inspiring. Scary story first. This is honestly the most in-danger I've ever felt on my mission. The other night, we decided to go see an inactive woman who lives in what is probably the most sketchy part of Lowell. This part of town is more frightening than the worst parts of Lynn, if that says anything. REALLY ghetto. So anyway, it's like 8:30 PM, our last stop of the night. We pull up in front of the apartment building, and there's 3 or 4 people loitering out front. We park the car, but stop before getting out to double check the name and apartment number before we go inside. In that short period of time, one of those people decided we were a threat and hastily walks over to the driver side window - right by me. She yells, "WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Of course, Elder Ang cheerfully replies, "We're missionaries!" She yells, "GET OUT OF THE CAR." I carefully and slyly reached up and locked the doors, and then told her that we weren't going to get out of the car. By this point, it was apparent that she was drunk, high, mentally disturbed, or some combination of the three. She then demanded that we roll down the window, to which I said, "I can hear you just fine!" Her face then contorted in pain, and she yelled, "MY MOTHER DIED YESTERDAY." I'm not sure where that statement came from, but I figured that maybe she wanted some money or something. I told her that I didn't have anything to give her and that I was sorry I couldn't help. She said "I don't want any of that! I don't want any of that! OPEN THIS DOOR!!!" I got a really bad feeling inside, and turned to Elder Ang and said that we needed to get out of there. Then, she tried to get in the car. She yanked on the door handles and attempted to pull on the window. I was seriously freaked out. She screamed again, "MY MOTHER DIED YESTERDAY!" and I said that I was so sorry to hear that. When I still didn't open the door, she yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!" I said, "Well, we WERE going to go visit someone in those apartments, but..." she interrupted me, pointed up the street, and screamed "GET THE *%#$@ OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!" Well, she didn't need to tell me twice. I threw the car into drive and sped out of there as fast as I could. I honestly felt like our lives were in danger, and I don't want to even think about what might have happened if we had gotten out of the car right away. I know that God watches over His missionaries. I've felt that divine protection on multiple occasions, and I'm so thankful for that.

Alright, now the inspiring story! On Saturday, we went to visit this guy named Chris, one of the inactive members of the singles' ward. He's a nice enough guy and he likes the missionaries, he just hasn't been to church in a while. His friend Ian happened to be there when we got there, and so Chris asked us to teach the first discussion - you don't have to try and convince missionaries to do that! We had a good lesson with him, but the whole time Ian seemed a little skeptical. He said things like "I think it's great that this book has had such an influence on the lives of others," and so we tried to ask him questions and see what his concern was. Turns out, we didn't need to. Chris took over and bore a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon, and you could just see Ian softening. And so, long story short, he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon, committed to read Moroni 10 and pray about it, and to meet us again this week. We're excited to have a new investigator and grateful that the Lord is answering our prayers. I love seeing the Spirit work in people, and it's an honor to be part of this great work.

Love,
Elder Justin DeLong