Day of baptisms!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day for Anne and me. We were able to attend 4 baptismal services, for 7 persons, in four different languages including English. In the morning we attended the baptisms of a husband and wife and the husband's sister (all in their late 20's and 30's). They belong to one of the Spanish speaking wards in the Millcreek area so the service was in that language. I am finding that my understanding of Spanish is improving but I have not found the time to practice speaking.

The second baptisms we were able to attend were of a 19- and 21-year old brother and sister attending one of the Samoan wards in the Rose Park area. That service was obviously in Samoan. I was only able to understand a few words (baptism, testimony, and Jesus Christ). What a beautiful language and people!

That afternoon we attended the baptism of an 82-year old man in one of the Tongan wards in Salt Lake City proper. I was surprised how different the Tongan language is from Samoan. After his baptism, he was invited to share his testimony and feelings. It was so moving to listen to this man speak, in a language I could not understand yet could feel the spirit of his testimony and feelings. Afterwards he shared a few words in English with Anne and me expressing his supreme joy in being able to follow his Savior Jesus Christ, even at this late age. It was so inspirational!

Finally, that night, we attended the baptism of a 37-year old American-born young man of Lithuanian/Jewish ancestry who, after his baptism, shared his experience of having a very non-traditional, rough life experience before meeting and listening to the missionaries. He described his mocking of the church and the missionaries earlier in his life but of the hollow existence he felt and the ultimate desire to find joy in his life. He bore an unbelievably powerful testimony of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the joy he felt as he turned his heart over to the Savior.

To cap the evening off, we were able to reconnect with friends of ours from when we lived in Salt Lake City almost 30 years ago, including friends from our ward when we were students at the University of Utah.

Finally, a friend of mine shared the following quote from one of our church's prior Apostles that I thought was worthy of resharing (thank you Rulon and Jacque Munns):

“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other. None of us need one more person bashing or pointing out where we have failed or fallen short. Most of us are already well aware of the areas in which we are weak. What each of us does need is family, friends, employers, and brothers and sisters who support us, who have the patience to teach us, who believe in us, and who believe we're trying to do the best we can, in spite of our weaknesses. What ever happened to giving each other the benefit of the doubt? What ever happened to hoping that another person would succeed or achieve? What ever happened to rooting for each other?”

― Marvin J. Ashton