"God be with you 'till we meet again"

Dear Family,

This week has been... crazy. We hit 2000 miles on our car for the month. We are glad it gets 30 mpg which keeps us from filling up every other day. We were excited to attend two baptisms in the zone. We always get anxious when weeks go by without a zone baptism.

We are gearing up for a very special baptism this next weekend. Jesus Calderon is going to be baptized this next weekend. He is very excited. He is one of the last members of his family to get baptized. He especially loves the Plan of Salvation because he now knows that he can be with his wife again (she passed away a few months ago). His family is very supportive and excited for his decision. They told us that they never thought Jesus would get baptized. We are very glad for his family.

We have also been working very hard to help another very special investigator, Maria Franco. She accepted baptism this last week, but had some major doubts that arose. We were able to teach her about opposition in all things with her granddaughter, who leaves for her mission in a week. Her attitude has changed completely. In her prayers, she now prays that God helps her avoid those people who try to talk her out of baptism. It is a rare thing to teach an investigator about opposition, but it is sometimes necessary. When we realize that opposition exists, we can have our testimony built by the knowledge that God doesn't allow us to be tried beyond our ability.

The highlight of the week was the outgoing fireside. At this fireside we were blessed to hear the outgoing testimonies of the Jackson's. They don't return home for another month, but it was their time to bless us with their testimonies. The spiritual highlight of the night was the hymn "God be with you 'till we meet again." It began with an instrumental arrangement of guitar, flute, violin, and piano. On a cue, all of the missionaries stood up and sang the last verse of the hymn. At this moment, the emotions were too much for all of the 900 people present. I doubt there was a dry eye in the room.

President Jackson even sang his testimony, "Oh, if I were an angel." It was a very powerful fireside. We were very glad that our investigators were present. I hope to get the recording from the fireside.

Love,

Elder Badger