BAPTISM!!!!!!!

HI HI HI EVERYONE!!!! Wow, it feels like an eternity since I last wrote to you all. That’s probably because SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK, and I can’t believe it all only happened in 7 days haha. 

The wonderful work:

• Our investigator got BAPTIZED on Saturday!! It all happened very quickly - all with the Lord’s help. Our investigator got her work schedule on Tuesday and told us her next Saturday off work was June 23. But that was so far away, and we knew a lot could happen in that span of time...so she said she would try to work something out. By Thursday, we still hadn’t heard if she got work off sooner than June 23. Then, Thursday morning she texted us and said, "Good morning! So I might be able to get baptized [this] Saturday, but I just don’t know a location yet. Plz help." Our jaws dropped. Immediately, we started the preparations for her baptism! Anyone who has prepared for a baptism before knows how much work goes into the preparation! Food, programs, speakers, calling people to invite them to the service, location, clothes, etc. but somehow, God helped everything work out in less than 48 hours. So grateful! 

Our investigator wanted both Õde Tullis and I to speak at the baptism. Since we were busy preparing everything else, we knew we wouldn’t have time to write the talks until Saturday morning. As we sat down to write our talks on Saturday morning, she called and said she was having a panic attack. She explained later that it felt like someone was grabbing her throat and heart and saying, "Don’t go. Don’t go." We knew it was Satan trying to stop her from getting baptized. We immediately went over to her house, helped her, and all traveled together to the river, which was where she was getting baptized. Even though we didn’t have talks prepared for the service, we had been preparing everything else and had been on the Lord’s errand that morning especially. So when we got up to talk, we could both speak Estonian well enough to testify and share our thoughts about how important the event was for our dear investigator. She said later that it was "exactly what needed to be said." If that’s not the gift of tongues given by God, I don’t know what is!! 

On top of all of that, on Saturday morning when we went outside to exercise, it was cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. But Õde Tullis and I both were praying and trusting God to provide a miracle so our investigator wouldn’t have to be baptized in the rain. Sure enough, when we walked outside to go to her house, the sky was blue :)

Once we got to the river and helped her change into the "marshmallow suit" as she calls it (hahaha - in other words, the white clothes she would get baptized in), we greeted everyone and started the program! We were all standing in a little clearing of a forest, the river in front of us, singing praises to God, getting ready to see our investigator enter the waters of baptism. So surreal. I wish I could send more pictures of everyone that was there! I wish I could send pictures of our investigator! But I did take this picture for you all to at least see the spot where our dear investigator was baptized :) 

Standing on the bank of the river, watching her walk into the river with a huge smile on her face, prepared and excited to finally be baptized, I felt a rush of chills. I couldn’t stop smiling! She said afterward, "That was so quick! I wanted to stay in there forever! I feel new." She has gotten baptized in other churches before, but later, she told us that she felt SO different after being baptized into this, the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Õde Tullis and I went to the beach with her and her son after the baptism and had a little "family picnic." 

She talked about how excited she was to get the gift of the Holy Ghost the next day. And WOW...when she got the gift of the Holy Ghost the next day in church...I could not contain my JOY!!! I had chills and was smiling so wide. She bore her testimony afterward, and I had a rush of chills again. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! She has the gift of the Holy Ghost! And she knows it is all true!! In her testimony, she told a story about her  4 year old son. It was a few months ago, and he didn’t know much about Jesus Christ yet. One of the elders gave him a little statue of Jesus Christ for his birthday. When she asked him who the statue was, he said, "Kuningas!", which means, "King!" He didn’t know much about Jesus Christ, yet when he saw Him, he knew Jesus was "King." That is so powerful. Anyway, we hugged her goodbye after church and told her how happy we were for her. She said simply, "If only you knew how happy I am."

I feel so humbled to have played a tiny part in our investigator’s journey to Christ. I have only known her for 2 months, but I have a feeling she and her little son are going to be a part of our lives forever. 

• GUESS WHAT ELSE, FRIENDS?? Our other investigator is getting BAPTIZED this Saturday!! She is so dear to me. I met her on the bus almost 2 months ago, and now, she is ready to enter the waters of baptism :) Good thing we have more than 48 hours to plan this baptism!! Hahaha. Last night, when we asked her on the phone if she was excited to be baptized, she said, "I am getting baptized in 5 days, 17 hours, and 5 minutes!! I got a count down app on my phone." Haha she is amazing! And she is smart too. She has even quoted biblical prophecies about Joseph Smith to us..and she is only 18 years old! 

• OK, I want to share one more tiny miracle from this week, then I will move on. I know this is so long...there were just so many miracles this week! And so many to come! So, I was in Tallinn with Õde Beardall. We only had a €10 bill and a €2 coin. Both Õde Beardall and I had a to buy a bus ticket at the front of the bus (€2 each). Õde Beardall had thoroughly checked her wallet before, and only had one €2 coin, so we decided to use the €10 bill. But when we got there, the bus driver didn’t accept the €10 bill because it was too big. We didn’t know what to do. Õde Beardall reached in her purse again and a new, shiny €2 coin had appeared. We bought our bus tickets, then sat down in disbelief. God had just provided a €2 coin for us!! 

Culture:

Interesting observation from the Estonian language this week. In the blessing conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost, an English blessing uses the wording, "Receive the Holy ghost." But in Estonian, the blessing uses the wording, "Võta vastu püha vaim," which means "Accept the Holy Ghost." There is a difference between receiving and accepting the Holy Ghost. Accepting it requires action! I just thought that was an interesting language twist :)

Funnies:

With the baptismal service being at the river in the forest, we had to improvise where to put the refreshments...:) So we used the back of the senior missionaries’ car! Haha. 

Spiritual thought:

OK, you are all probably already spiritually drained from reading all of that. That was a lot! Haha, trust me, I am drained too! But in the best way possible :) I just wanted to share quickly something Õde Tullis taught me about the relationship between faith, hope, and charity. Faith is the action. Hope is the attitude. Charity is the motivation. If you read Moroni 7:43-44 and substitute those words in for each time it says faith, hope, and charity...the verses take on a different meaning. Super interesting! That really helped me realize the difference between those three crucial attributes. I hope it helps you too :)

I have a very small favor to ask from all of you. Since both of our investigators will be baptized as of this Saturday (!!!!), we officially have 0 investigators! We are still busy teaching less actives and members, but we need more investigators! I am humbly asking each of you to say a prayer, even just one prayer, and pray that we can find more people to teach. I know there are people here in Pärnu ready and waiting for us to find them.

THANK YOU for your prayers, and THANK YOU for reading this super long email haha.  I love you all!!

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace (in Christ).

Õde Smith-Driggs

2 Nephi 10:23:

Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

(Mom comment: Although Eliza cannot post pictures of members and investigators in Estonia, private sites can post pictures.  The Pärnu branch president has an Instagram account (mormon_parnu) where he sometimes posts pictures.  He posted baptism photos on June 2.)