Merry Christmas! These past two weeks we have definitely seen some miracles, and the time has gone by extremely fast. The highlight was the baptisms of Doe and Oliver yesterday! There were definite miracles taking place to make these happen.
Oliver is 16 years old and six weeks ago said he was "one of those ignorant atheist people" who didn't believe in God. His family isn't very religious. Luckily, he is a very open minded individual who took the invitation by the Sisters to learn more out of curiosity. Soon that curiosity turned into that "thirst for knowledge" that the scriptures describe. On Tuesday, December 20 I interviewed Oliver for baptism and gave him the green light. Just as I saw in myself the amount of challenges I had before leaving on my mission, I saw in Oliver similar challenges. These are expected whenever we make a great decision like baptism or going on a mission. Through many mighty miracles we were able to work through these and I was honored to be able to baptise Oliver yesterday.
Doe is the text book definition of a golden investigator. Doe was the only member of his family who was not a member of the Church, and has had constant support over the years of home teachers and visiting teachers who did not pressure him, but constantly loved and supported until Doe felt the time was right for him*. We started teaching Doe a week after I got to Bedford, and extended a baptismal date the first time we met. Doe absorbed everything we taught and continues to go above and beyond in his own study. It was so great to see Doe get baptised by Elder Parkin!
We got a surprise phone call Saturday night from one of the Assistants. A few months ago at our last zone conference they handed out a survey to see which missionaries have skills technology. These include working with computers and using google drive and Google sheets, as well as skill with working with sound equipment. They liked my responses, so today for p day we are going into the mission office in London so they can see what my skill level is. London p day today!
Merry Christmas and happy new year!
-Elder Ammermon
*DO YOUR HOME/VISITING TEACHING
