2 Baptisms Later...

Everything went great last weekend with the two baptisms. I have full faith in the Senri ward members and Elder McLaws and Elder Kurose helping them endure to the end. It was really fun to return to an area where I had served before. Everyone was surprised and happy to see me. Senri was my shortest area since I transferred in two weeks after the transfer day when the mission was consolidated and left 1 1/2 weeks before the transfer ended to get training here in the mission office. Well anyways both of the baptisms were amazing. Elder McLaws baptized Brother Hayashi. The YSA in the ward all love him and he will be a great member. I was able to conduct the hymns that we sang as we waited for them to change after the ordinance which was really fun. I just felt so full of joy singing hymns and knowing that in some small way I helped Brother Hayashi come closer to his Savior, true happiness, and eternal life with his future family.


Brother Yoshihiro Sato's baptism was really early, but they wanted to confirm him the same day so we made it work. I felt just as nervous as he did. He doesn't show much expression but he was definitely ready to be baptized. Like almost all of the baptisms here in Japan, the service was held in the chapel. Sato and I sat up front on the stand. The elders and sisters serving in the two wards that use that building sang The Olive Tree in English. It immediately made me think of Christina and all of her hard work serving in Oklahoma and helping the people there. It felt only fitting that in that small way the Lord connected the work I was doing here with what she did there. The actual ordinance could have gone smoother but it was still great. It was my first time ever baptizing anyone. Even though I had the prayer memorized it still didn't flow out very smoothly. I guess it was just hard to believe I was actually doing it and all of those thoughts forced me to say it very slow and deliberately. Before they opened the partition to the baptismal font I had to quickly explain what he was supposed to do and how exactly everything actually goes. It was hard to explain everything clearly mostly because of nerves and not really because of the language. I did remember to tell him to bend his knees and plug his nose though. So anyways I finished the prayer and went to submerge him in the water but I noticed his face wasn't completely covered so with a little nudge and a good second effort we were able to get it done in only one try. I wondered why it was so hard to get him all the way under until Bishop Fukutaki mentioned in his remarks that he didn't plug his nose which then thinking back he hadn't. Another thing was the font is pretty narrow so I hesitated to go too fast to make sure his head didn't hit the wall. I felt really awkward for not doing it very well but a baptism is a baptism and it is the covenant that counts not anything else. Everyone was really encouraging saying I did a good job of getting it done on the first try. After they reclosed the partition I waited in the font as the water drained and Sato was changing. It was a really special experience. I remember looking up into the sky light and just thinking that I actually got to baptize someone. It wasn't that I hadn't felt satisfied with what I had did up until that point but it was just so rewarding to be there and help an 18 year-old young man find direction in his life. It was like an outward sign that everything I had done up until that point, not just as a missionary but in my life in general, was pleasing before God. It's like that is what I was preparing for for 20 years and 8 months, why I went to church every week, why I went to seminary, studied the scriptures, prayed, studied this tough language. worked to the point of utter exhaustion, got back up after hard times, why I wanted to become a missionary. It was great and I can't wait until we get to see baptisms here in Kobe.


I love you all. Thanks for the encouragement, prayers, and just living as the best disciple of Jesus Christ you can be everyday. That's really all it comes down to so just keep it up.

Lots of love,
Corey