Not much time so ill make it short... Elder Sosa and I had two baptisms this week!! One of the youth in the ward is preparing for a mission, so he did the baptizing.
Coordinating all the details of any baptismal service is tricky, but even more tricky in Panama for some reason.
In the morning when we arrived, the font had no water in it. And of course, the water wasn't working in the church. I'm just so grateful we have a church building though, with a font! Then, after sacrament meeting we went back to the font and it was full! I don't know how this even happened, it is literally a miracle!
Then of course, somehow the door to the font got locked. We had the main curtain open from the front, but no access to the font! So, right in front of 20 people there in attendance, the bishop jumped over the the glass next to the font (where all the little kids gather to see a baptism), and unlocked the door to the font, so the baptism could happen. It was pretty funny!
Day by day ...
On Monday (our P-day) we played soccer with the youth in the ward. I was so, so literally soaked in sweat. Then of course, there was no water to shower when I got home. (Water is on rotating availability). We always seem to miss it.
Tuesday was super slow! It was raining buckets most of the day. No one was home. We had no toilet paper either, so that was rough! Ahaha!
On Wednesday we went on divisiones. I was with Elder Hadley (my cousin Abbie's brother in law). I also gave my first blessing in Spanish! I learned a lot. What a great day!
Thursday we were served a HUGE dinner. I had to force myself to eat it all. Then they gave us cake and ice cream...that was not a problem!
On Friday we had to wake up at 4am to go into Panama City for immigration updates. After that, we had a zone conference and interviews right after. My interview took less than three minutes. Later in the day, the police were talking to us, and asking what we were all about. I asked if they wanted to come to church. They said maybe...haha!
On Saturday, our two investigators (a 17 year old Kuna girl and her little brother) passed their baptism interviews. We got permission from the bishop, president Current, and their mom for the baptisms.
We have been teaching their mom too, but she can't get baptized because she is not married. We scheduled the baptisms for Sunday, and worked with the priest age boy in the ward (who wants to serve a mission) so he could baptize them.
Baptisms are stressful. We were walking home at 8:40pm and it starts pouring. We were so soaked. Too much water! It was the worst thing ever!
Sunday- TWO BAPTISMS!! We also had four investigators in church!
That's the rundown of the week. We still have not "hit it right" to get water in our area (to know when it is going to be on, and to be there when it is on) or to know when it is available.
That makes three days we've missed the flowing water, but all is well!
Elder Doxey
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