We did it, fam! Amy is now a baptized and confirmed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! She is so happy, and we are too. The service was lovely and heartfelt, with many kind and caring ward members in attendance to show support and fellowship. It was almost perfect. almost.
After all was said and done, refreshments packed away, chairs folded and stored, font drained, Sister Phelps and I were exhausted and worn from a job well done. Back at the apartment after a well earned moment of rest, a thought occurred.
"...Did Brother Hunter say Amy's middle name when he baptized her?" Sister Phelps asked. When we realized that he did not in fact state her middle name, we questioned wether or not this meant what we thought it meant. We called our mission president only to have our fears assured.
"It has to be the full legal name, you'll have to do the baptism again."
After a few phone calls and tears (on my part), we had re-orchestrated the baptism to happen early before church so Amy could still be confirmed during sacrament meeting. It was quite the roller coaster but with the wards help and Heavenly Father watching over us we pulled it off. However part of that roller coaster was Amy pulling our legs and making our hearts stop. There we are with the font almost full at the crack of dawn and we get a text from her saying, "I'm not coming, sorry." when we asked what she meant she said "just kidding I'm here hahaha".
So the moment before she entered the font I said "Oh the water is freezing cold, by the way!" and she looked up at me terrified and then when she set foot in the warm water she whipped around and pinched me in the leg. It was funny. I felt a little bad, but she totally deserved it. We love her.
She was baptized again, this time her full name was said loud and clear. To be fair, her full name is a little hard. Amy is just a short nickname for a long family name from the Philippines, and Brother Hunter is Idaho born and bred, so it kind of made sense that Amy forgot to tell him her middle name; seeing as after she told him her full first name he audibly said, "Oh gosh."
At sacrament Amy was confirmed and after she came down off the stand I gave her a huge hug and she whispered in my ear, "Did he say my name right? Are we good?" to which I replied, "Yeah he did it perfect, we're good." 😊
At the program on Saturday her daughters sang "When I Am Baptized" and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Bishop Lifferth even asked if they'd also sing it as part of the prelude for sacrament on Sunday, and they eventually said yes. They were understandably afraid of singing in front of the ward at first, but they did it and it was adorable.
Lillian was even there for sacrament to see the confirmation and the girls' song! She was super sick last week, so we were glad to see her back again. She's awesome. She's even feeding us dinner tonight, which she does regularly, but tonight will be a little different because it's a special goodbye dinner for Sister Phelps.
That's right, Sister Phelps is transferring out of Belleview and headed to a suburb of Orlando called Olympia. I'm sad to see her go, we were really hoping against reason to spend Christmas here together. But we are just grateful for the good times we had here together and we know that she's needed where she's called. Sister Phelps is even going to be a Sister Training Leader! That's amazing and I'm so proud of her and I will miss her dearly.
As for Belleview, I'm here for another transfer! I'm so grateful to stay apart of this ward family for Christmas and the days in between. My new companion is coming from Daytona tomorrow, her name is Sister Carter and I don't know anything about her other than she's nice. I trust that that's true but I'll let you know next week for sure.
I hope you've all been lighting the world and I love hearing from you guys, so don't forget to write. Also it is now okay to mail things to the mission office again. I thought it was going to be a bigger deal than it ended up being so feel free to send things there again. But for the next six weeks at least it will get to me faster here in Lady Lake! So send holiday tidings to: 423 Hwy 466 #5203 Lady Lake, FL 32159.
Be of good cheer,
-Sister Olivia Petty🛁
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| An accurate photo representation of how the baptism went overall 12.3.16 |
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| The gang including Rupert, the Hunter's son, and Elder Crockett 12.3.16 |
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| Sophia, Amy and Chloe 12.3.16 |
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| A sign we drive pass on our way to district meeting that we enjoy 11.30.16 |
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