Week 55 Sumoto: Baptism!

兄弟姉妹皆さん、こんにちは！

i Learned so much this week from the Incredible blessing that we had to baptize and confirm shimizu masayuki a member of the church. we didn't know what to expect going into the baptism and we made a lot of little sloppy mistakes setting up the baptismal serVice, but in theEend it turned out to be such A spiritual experience. it was way awesome to see some of the members brought their Friends to the service. me and my companion sang a musical number during the service which was 'i know that my redeemer lives' we sorT of messed up several times but in the End it was really poweRful and a fun and terrifying experience (i'm not a huge fan of singing in front of people, especially in japanese). we went to THE beach to perform the baptisM because there is no font in our little church building. Aftwerwards as we were walking aloNg the beach to get to the bathrooms i was talking with shimizu kyoudai. as i started to explaiN the covenant that he just made and the blessings of the spirit that he will now havE in his life i suddenly felt a huge explosion of the spirit within me. i felt a portion of god's love foR shimizu kyoudai and almost like a message of gratitude from Our heavenly father for bringing one of his beloved lost sheep back to the Fold. it was overpowering and caused tears to flow down my cheeks. he must have had a similar message of love fill his Heart as well because Almost simultaneously he too was overcome with tears and started to exclaim how haPpy he was. i truly know that god loves each and every one of his children so infinitely much and it is my utmost desire to be the means by which he can oPperate through me to bless and rescue the lives of many of his lost sheep. I love being a missionary so very much, and I am so grateful for a loving father in heaveN who granted unto us the miracle of being able to servE as representatives of jesus christ in leading his precious children back to hiS love. love you all So much and hope you have a fantastic week!

elder allred

The newest member of the Sumoto Branch