Alex Stancell's Baptism

Dear Family,

What a great week! With the new transfer started, I switched planners. I always use my planner to look back at the week and review all the events that have occurred. Without the planner, I may lose some details so bare with me!

Zach has been very flaky with us. He knows what he must do, but he currently lacks the faith that he can accomplish what the Lord asks of him. He did not come to church this week; he decided to go to his uncle's church instead. (His uncle is very anti.) I texted Zach this morning and he told us that he's not sure if he wants to visit with us anymore. Whatever happens, I know he felt the spirit bare witness to his soul of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. He will remember the feelings he's felt and he will return to them when everything else fails.

Mark Minium. We met with Mark this week with Elder Seamons (Zone Leader) and Elder Taylor (Assistant). They helped us teach Mark concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark is a really good guy. He wants the best for his son. He makes sacrifices every day to make sure they have a roof over their head. We pray for him that all will work out. He currently has four job interviews this week. I just hope and pray that he gets employment with someone who will honor his request to have Sunday's off.

Friday morning Elder Fisher and I were walking down a trailer park that we had knocked before, but we felt like going anyways. We knocked down the street, with nobody answering (which is really strange for trailers). We finally walked down to the last trailer on the right. We knocked on the door and we heard some noise inside, but nobody was coming to the door. We continued to wait and then Tiesha answered the door. We asked her if she would let us in and teach her about the Restoration of the Gospel, and at first she was not super interested. The door then opened wider and Lovy was standing next to Tiesha wanting to know who was at the door. Tiesha is 29 years old with a 7 year old Son. Lovy is 23 and she is pregnant with her first child, which is due in September.

We asked them which church they go to and Lovy told us that she attends the Baptist church, while Tiesha attends the Jehovah's Witnesses. They then explained to us how different their churches were and asked, "What do you think happens to us when we die?" We began to answer when they invited us into their home. We answered their question and then Lovy said, "How can I know what the truth is? I am so sick of all the confusion, I just want God to tell me a clear cut answer." Also, "How am I supposed to know when God  is talking to me? Maybe he's been answering my questions this whole time and I just don't know how he will answer." We then went into the Joseph Smith story about Joseph's similar questions. The spirit was really strong. It's amazing how the spirit always comes when we bare testimony of the restoration. Without it, we would just be any other church created by man, but I know that God is at the head of this church, this is why the spirit comes so strongly when we bare testimony of the restoration.

After we taught of the restoration, we taught them about the Holy Ghost, and how we can recognize the answers God sends us. We explained the still small voice and Tiesha began to cry. She explained, "I wasn't going to let you in, but the voice in my head said 'open the door' I now know that it was the Spirit telling me to let you in." Tiesha and Lovy asked us (before we could invite them) to come to church. We told them we wanted to give them a church tour. We asked if we could do it the following day, but they were busy all day Saturday. Tiesha asked, "Can we do it later today?" I was shocked that she would want to meet with us a second time within the same day. We set up a time for that evening to give them a church tour. Tiesha and Lovy showed up 15 minutes early for the tour and we had a member with us and had a great experience. Unfortunately, Tiesha & Lovy did not attend church. We will stop by today to see what happened.

Friday night we received a phone call from Brother Porter, asking us if we were sure the baptism was taking place on Saturday. He said he was calling the members to invite them and many of them said, "They decided to post-pone the baptism for another two weeks." I was shocked by this information because nobody had told me. I tried calling Allison, but she would not answer. We drove over to her house and knocked on the door and no answer. I went to bed Friday night stressed that we may not have a baptism the following day.

Saturday morning, we receive a text asking, can we post-pone the baptism? I replied saying we had it all organized and ready for today. Allison then told us that we could go forward with the baptism and they asked if Elder Fisher would perform the baptism! :D It was such a great surprise! 5:00 Saturday evening, Elder Fisher baptized Alex Stancell.

Sunday, Mark came to church, but Alex was not there! I was sitting in the pew trying to stay calm as we sang the opening hymn, but at the end of the hymn, Allison, and Alex walked into the chapel. Alex was confirmed by her grandfather. It was a great experience.

Life is going good! I love being a missionary. We received transfer information. Elder Fisher and I are going to be in a three-some with another missionary for the next four weeks. We will be picking him up tomorrow. I don't know who it will be! We shall see!

Life is great I love being a missionary, I will always be a missionary!

Love,
Elder Cowan