We had a baptism on Saturday and it was a miracle!! So it was Alexa, the
girl who was supposed to be baptized my first Sunday out here. She's the niece
of the Young Woman's president in my ward, and she was living with her dad in
West Valley sometimes and with her aunt here sometimes. She seemed to have
dropped off the face of the earth because we couldn't find her anywhere! We
tried calling her and we talked to her aunt a few times, but we didn't want to
lose the trust of her aunt, so we left it in the Lord's hands when her baptism
date came and went. We were planning on Wednesday night and we had hit a dead
end. We were thinking about where we should go and Sister Adorable said, "maybe
we should go to Hermana Castineda's house (the YW president) just to see how
she's doing. We didn't even have Alexa in mind when we were planning. So we got
to Hermana Castineda's apartment and who opens the door? Alexa!! We were like,
"Alexa, what happened?" So we talked to her, asked her if she still wanted to be
baptized, and she said Saturday would be the day! She's such a cute girl, she's
18 years old and she has a little 6 month old baby. So we got the District
Leader over to have the interview, talked to the Bishop, and everything
eventually worked out. It took a lot of patience and we were frantically trying
to put everything together, but it all worked out. Alexa was 30 minutes late,
but it was a good baptism. We had her confirmed since we had the Brigham City
Temple Openhouse on Sunday. It was the best feeling! And Alexa made us sing at
the baptism . . . it was a lot better than when Me, Sarah, and Ashley sang at
Heather Peterson's baptism (I know how much Mariah Sullivan loved that . . .).
It's amazing to witness the hand of our Heavenly Father in this work. He does
prepare people and He will lead us to them if we are faithful, diligent, and
obedient.
We got to go on a trek yesterday! The perks of being in the SLC mission :)
It was not nearly as hard as the trek we went on as a stake 4 years ago, but it
was a really good experience. And I forgot how confining jeans are. I've gotten
too used to wearing a skirt. The best part of the trek was during the women's
pull. We had about 30 sisters and 180 elders, so the elders lined up on the
sides of the hill we had to climb. They were told to think about their mother's,
sister's, and any other women in their lives. We were told to think about our
dads and brothers. Nobody spoke during the pull. We pushed this handcarts up the
hill and it was such a struggle! But as I looked up at the elders, I could see
the face of my father in each of the elder's faces. It took all of their
strength to not reach out and help us. Some elders were crying. Most were just
watching us with so much respect. I thought about dad and about the love and
support that he gives me. I just love him so much. We got up the hill and the
Elders followed us up. They applauded for us and some shared their experiences,
or what they felt as they watched us. They expressed their love for their
mothers and for the strength they gained from the example of their mothers. I am
so grateful for the strong example of my mother and for everything that she has
had to go through in raising me. As I was sitting on that hill, I had this
really deep impression that I needed to stay strong throughout my life so that I
can be a good example for my children someday. I need to give them the love and
support they need. We got to stand on top of Ensign Peak and look at the Salt
Lake Valley and see what Brigham Young had envisioned when he came to the
Valley. At the peak we got letters from our parents (Unfortunately mine says
"Elder Bragg" because there used to be an Elder Bragg in the mission . . . the
mission president's wife saw my nametag yesterday and apologized when she
realized the mistake :)). So the trek . . . even though it wasn't physically
hard, it was definitely something that I needed to maintain my motivation!
We got to watch the dedication for the Brigham City Temple on Sunday!! We
went with a recent convert, so it was in Spanish . . . but it was so good! I
love President Packer and his wife!!
We had a ward activity on Friday . . . it was definitely way more Spanish
than I wanted to hear in one night.
We ate at La Guadalupana on 3300 S for our district meeting on Friday . . .
and I was sick for the rest of the night. Word to the wise, never eat there.
Especially when you have to bike for 5 hours that night.
I got letters from Heather Peterson, Anne Hayes (I loved your drawing!),
the Weiss family, Annie Lee, Mom, Dad, and Will Weiss. I feel so bad that I'm
falling behind on writing letters, I'm sorry!!
Mom, since you keep on asking I should probably clarify that I only cover
one Spanish Ward but it's over one stake. It's a ton of fun.
I hope that everything is going well!! I can't believe Sarah is in the
Relief Society Presidency!! Dad, I loved your John Cleese reference, I think
about it all the time now. I hope school is going well and that everything is
perfect!!
I love you all!!
Hermana Jenny Bragg
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