Transfer 11 Week 3

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many things to write, but not enough time to write them all!!! I'll do my best.

We had a great week this week. Can I just start off with Calvin's baptism and how grateful I am to be a part of the greatest work in the entire world???? Legit. I'm so thankful for everything. I was a little stressed about the baptism, seeing as we were expecting SO many people (70 showed up). We arrived with the font FULL of cold, gross water. So, I pulled up my skirt a tad and entered the font to pull the plug. It took 30 minutes to get it mostly drained, and then we filled it back up. The little complications of baptisms!!! But as soon as I saw Calvin and Tanner Chatterley in their whites I just wanted to lose it. We have all worked SO hard for so long for this!! Calvin really is my miracle boy. I'm so proud of him. During the opening prayer my heart was filled with gratitude for being a part of this work. I struggled with controlling the tears as Connor, one of Calvin's friends, gave an amazing talk on Baptism, sharing the experience he had when we all watched the Joseph Smith movie back in March. And then as Calvin and Tanner entered the water, I was done. Tanner got emotional and in a humble voice, said the prayer and baptized Calvin. It was beautiful. Calvin came up and said, "Well, that was easy!" While they were getting ready again some of the youth went and bore testimonies that just ROCKED THE HOUSE!!! Honestly, this was the most spiritual baptism I've ever been to. All of our Reno baptisms have been amazing. Ben, Elizabeth, Calvin, and soon Jacqui. Jacqui came to Calvin's baptism and told us how excited she was for hers now. I'm so excited for her. This is the greatest work in the world, guys. Even better, for me, than being on stage. I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father's patient persistance with me. I love Him and my Savior. I know they live more than anything else. I have a knowledge.

Jacqui is doing AMAZING. I am in awe of her every day. She eats up the gospel and just wants to learn more and apply it in her life. We taught her the first 1/2 of the 10 commandments and finished it up for Gospel Principles class with Jo and I asked Jacqui to explain in her own words what the first 2 commandments meant. She totally took that to heart and explained with PERFECTNESS!!! She laughed when she looked at me because I had my "dork smile" as she called it (the one that takes up my whole face). I just can't help it!!! I HAVE TO SMILE!!! THIS IS THE GREATEST GIFT ANYONE COULD EVER RECEIVE AND I'M HELPING TO DELIVER IT FOR A LIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How could I NOT smile my "dork smile"????

On a more hilarious note, we met dear sweet Arthella this week. This 78 year old special lady is hilarious. We got a referral for her from our Zone Leaders, and on Tuesday we went and saw her. After meeting the "boys" (her 2 boy puppies), getting a tour of her house (should be on the TLC show "horders"), going through her backyard, hearing at least 17 times that she wanted to come to church, and renaming her dogs "Po" and "Jo" (for which she threw her arms around my neck and thanked me, because I came up with the silly names), we said we'd be back Thursday to help her get a ride to the Relief Society activity. Uh, little did we know that if you add sweet Arthella with about 25 beers, she ain't so sweet anymore. She left us a note at her house that was very difficult to read, we gave her a call to see what was going on. 13 minutes later I hung up the phone, laughing harder than I ever have in my entire life. She antied us and cussed us out, called us cowards, and I just can't even tell you the rest. This is definitely a mission story to be shared a laughed at. It's not nearly as funny without my drunk voice impression.

Anyway, I love this work. Oh, and I love Tahoe. We went there as a zone today and it was beautiful. I can't wait to come back next summer for some sealings and head up there, freezing cold water or not. I'll send some pictures.

I love you guys so much. So much. I love this work even more. I'm almost at 15 months, and time has just flown. I can't even believe it. Freaks me out. It's so great, though. This is the singlemost greatest decision that any young man or woman can ever receive. I love you guys. Feed a missionary.

love love love,
Sister Mack