Comments From a Not-So-Perfect Success!

Dearest loved ones,

This week was a blast! Nothing will ever compare. Haha! And because the words of one person couldn't possibly do it justice we have once again decided to pool our brains to bring you another thrilling tale.

Where do we begin??

We'll start at the beginning. Pedro and Adis were married!!! Yay! On Tuesday we made them wedding cupcakes to celebrate. When we went over, Adis was all too excited to show us the gold imprinted and embossed marriage certificate. It was a sweet and private ceremony, sadly in
English, but that's ok because they're married right?

Pedro and Adis with marriage certificate

For Pday we went out to Myakka where we both saw and ate ... Alligators! Yum. It was nice to take a break from the busy city and enjoy some time with the Sarasota sisters before they were transferred.

We climbed a 75 foot tall treehouse and walked up in the canopies of the trees. Florida is beautiful. The day was the perfect temperature with just a slight breeze. Atop the tower we could feel the wind rocking us so we quickly climbed down.

After Myakka we spent some time with the Martinez family at Smacks. That night we visited a part member family and discussed with the father his fears about joining the church, by the end of the lesson he said that he was willing to give the church another try!  P-day was an overall success.

We are continuing to work with the famous Landeros brothers! Things have been moving quite nicely. Juan Eduardo is getting baptized this Saturday!! We're so happy for him and the conversion that has taken place. He told us the other day that he first came to church just to see how bad it was and was shocked to find that he really enjoyed it. He's really been diving into it! His brother is also doing well in overcoming his addictions.

Ok, let's be honest all we really want to talk about is the baptism we had because it was something else...Dun dun dun! Haha!

So we had everything planned perfectly right, wrongo! On Saturday, our Ward mission leader let us know that he would have to work during the baptism, our branch president also had to work and the first counselor had gone to Miami for a funeral. So we were a little short on priesthood but it was still ok. We still maintained the confidence that everything would go off without a hitch.

We arrived early to fill the font and prepare all the little things. Turns out that nobody showed up until literally the last minute. We quickly had Pedro change into his baptismal 70's outfit. This is where it started to get interesting. So unknowingly there were only two jumpsuits in the men's changing room, one was rather large and the other was, well...let's just say for lack of a better words, designed to make a man of Pedro's stature look like a little sausage. Seams straining, we began the service.

The talks were beautiful. Hermana Mathis played the piano and Hermana Paulsen led the music.
Now about the time of the second talk, Hermana Paulsen decided to split with our dear friend, Natalie Garcia, to go check on the font. When they arrived in the font room they were surprised (but not really because something always goes wrong) to find that the font was overflowing! So like a paragon warrior in God's army, Hermana Paulsen pulls up her skirt and descended into the font to let some of the water out. This is where it gets really interesting. We'll go back to the chapel where
everyone sat waiting for the talk to be finished. The final words were given about the Holy Ghost leaving all with the spirit.

We all shuffled into the font room. There we waited anxiously for the baptism. We split again this time Hermana Mathis and Vanessa Garcia went in the woman's side of the font to assure that all was well. To everyone's surprise the font was only half full! So ingeniously Pedro Fernandez, who was baptizing Pedro (confusing right? Don't worry there were two other Pedro's involved as well), decided that it would be ok to do the baptism kneeling down in the font.

This is where the interest meets its highest and greatest level. Pedro had to be dunked 3 times! Our poor dear Pedro! The third time wasn't valid either because his arm didn't go completely under so they decided it was just best to close the font doors and fill the font. (Hermana Mathis speaking) I will never forget the smile on Pedro's face as he laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. Vanessa and I not knowing what else to do quickly grabbed some buckets and attempted to fill the font with water from the women's bathroom.

Pedros Baptism

Meanwhile Hermana Paulsen and Natalie led the branch in singing some hymns which is a very difficult task without a piano in a Spanish Branch mind you.

After about 10 more minutes they decided to do it again. This time it was a complete success. Fourth times a charm! The rest of the night went pretty smoothly except maybe a 15 minute long welcome into the elders quorum.

On Sunday Pedro was confirmed and the spirit was so strong! Adis was up to the brim with joy to see her now official husband confirmed a member of the church. After the confirmation, Pedro, now Hermano Valdez, sat smiling in the third row with his wife. It was all very sweet.



We hope you all have a magical week! With lots of love from Saraota!

- Hermana Mathis and Hermana Paulsen