What Could Possibly Go Wrong‏ (from the pres)

Dear Parents and Families,
President Gee and I hope all is well with "Ya'll." We appreciate your prayers and support in behalf of the mission and your missionary. The weather is absolutely wonderful this week. The temperature was in the seventies and the skies are blue. It is perfect weather for missionaries and we think we get a few more days just like what we have had. Most of the missionaries are healthy and doing well.

Today I would like to pass on a few experiences about baptisms. Baptisms bring joy! However, there are times when we find out the answer to the question, "What could possibly go wrong?" I hope your sense of humor is awake. In the past Elders have been told how long it takes to fill the font. Not wanting to waste time, they plan on starting the water and leaving for a while to do other missionary things. You know the answer to the question, don't you? Recently the Elders returned to find the font had overflowed and the church was flooded. They spent several hours with a shop vac trying to repair the damage. It has happened more than once.
One unforgettable experience happened several months ago. We were hosting Elder Richardson who was our Area Seventy. We decided to attend a scheduled baptism during one evening. When we arrived the Elders weren't really thrilled to see us because somehow the person who was supposed to pick up the sister to be baptized forgot to get her. It would take an hour to make the round trip to get her to the church. That ward mission leader had decided to ride his motorcycle rather than drive his car. He was having so much fun he forgot what he was doing. We waited and waited. I finally looked at Elder Richardson and said, "This is how we do things in Oklahoma." He smiled and said something about the interesting report he would have for the brethren.
The sister finally arrived and got ready for the baptism. When the witnesses tried to open the doors in front of the font they were locked. The motorcycle mission leader had left the keys home with his car keys. We tried breaking in. A former CIA agent thought he could unlock the door but to no avail. I don't even remember how we finally solved the problem. The poor sister finally got into the water and had to be baptized three times before it was done correctly.
Another time a lovely sister named Maria was scheduled to be baptized. All day long things kept coming up to stop her from attending her baptism. There were issues with the Immigration Department and car troubles, among other things. She did show up at the scheduled time. Just as we were under way the tornado siren went off. I remember thinking, "We are NOT going to stop this baptism for any tornado!!" We just went ahead and she was baptized and fortunately the tornado went somewhere else. Another time we waited and waited for a young boy to show up for his baptism. Finally we disbanded and the police and his family and the missionaries started a searth for a missing person. They found him the next day at a friends house. He had forgotten about his baptism. Needless to say, more teaching was in order. He was finally baptized several weeks later and is still doing okay.
Well, these experiences make us smile, but there really is opposition in all things and we are relieved when baptisms go as scheduled. I was able to attend a baptism on Saturday morning for a young woman named April. This one was perfect. The room was so crowded with ward members and family that they had to carry in more chairs. There was a wonderful spirit of love and testimony there. The talks were good. I love to hear the testimonies of people who often start with "I remember the day I was baptized! It was _______years ago." I realized as I listened on Saturday that knowing people who are accepting the gospel allows those of us who were born into the church to kind of go through the conversion process vicariously. These experiences help all of us to build our testimonies as well. Every time we attend a baptism it feels like a reverent celebration. There are always so many smiles. (However, I do remember one where the mother of the girl being baptized sobbed all the way through the program. She was heart broken that her daughter was abandoning her upbringing and joining another church.) I saw an artists depiction of the baptism of the Savior where he and John the Baptist were embracing and both had huge smiles on their faces. I loved that concept because baptism is so important and joyful. Thank you for your son or daughter or family member and supporting them in this greatest of causes to bring souls to Christ through baptism. May you all be blessed. We pray for you. Love, President and Sister Gee