Devin and Kim: Mishell's Baptism

Mishell has been meeting with the missionaries from our church since we were in Ecuador. We have always let it be Mishell's decision if she wants to continue to learn about our church and ultimately, whether she wants to join it. We wanted her to learn about it because we attend every week and it is a large and important part of our day to day life. However, we wanted her to gain a testimony for herself if she felt the desire. She met with the missionaries the whole time we were in Ecuador and wanted to continue when we got home. We started meeting weekly with some awesome Spanish speaking elders after we got home. Elder Martinez is from California and Elder Barriga is from Ohio. The nice thing about them is that both are native Spanish speakers. They both also speak fluent English, which is a bonus! They both related extremely well to Mishell and were kind and patient with her in their teaching. I learned quickly that Mishell has a really receptive spirit. She feels the Holy Ghost and it speaks truth to her soul. She sometimes has a difficult time understanding everything that she is being taught (both secularly and religiously- more on this later), but she feels things strongly. I first noticed this in Ecuador and have had many other experiences since that have helped me realize this about Mishell. I think it's a wonderful gift that she has that she can feel and recognize the Spirit and know truth.

Just recently, we have been dealing with a few minor issues with Mishell (nothing major- just normal adjustment stuff for her and also normal for her age), so I was having a conversation with her about what Devin and I can be doing better to help her. What does she need from us? Are her needs being met? That is not to say that we can remove the loss and sadness she may be feeling from everything being taken away from her that she knew, but we just wanted to make sure that we were doing our best for her. At the end of the conversation, Mishell told me that she needs three things from us:

1) to spend time with Mr Tee every week (her horse at horse therapy)

2) Praise

3) to go to church every week

I was kind of shocked that she threw going to church on the list. That hadn't been part of our conversation at all. But the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense. She feels the Spirit there, like I do, and it rejuvenates her in a way that nothing else can. It is truly a respite from the rest of the hard weeks that we go through and it gives us strength to keep going. It is simple to her and it makes sense why she needs- it's because she feels something there that is special and important to her now. Now, just to get that feeling in our home more often...:)

I don't know why I just added that last story on there-- I felt the urge I guess to illustrate how Mishell feels things. Anyway, after meeting with the missionaries through December, they invited her to be baptized a member of our church. She accepted the invitation and we set the date for January 16.

Mishell's baptism day was extremely special and we are so grateful for all those who came to support her. We had a lot of help to make it a success. She asked Aunt Jen to give the talk on baptism and Uncle Michael translated that for her. Then she was baptized by her dad and Grandma Perry gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. She gave it in both Spanish and English so that Mishell could understand. Before the baptism started, Mishell told Devin and I that she wanted to bear her testimony. We were a little shocked as this was not on the program and we didn't feel that she needed to, but if she wanted to, why not? So before the bishop gave his remarks, Mishell stood and bore a simple testimony in English about feeling the Holy Ghost when she prayed and knowing that she was loved by Jesus Christ.. It was a really special experience for us to witness.

After the baptism, we had a luncheon there at the church with all our family and friends who attended. It was wonderful to see all the support for her. We have felt so surrounded by love and care by our families and by our ward. Thank you to all who came.

Since Mishell was a convert baptism, she was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost the next day in church. The only small snag in the event was that Devin woke up Sunday feeling really sick and couldn't get out of bed. I was so worried about it. All of our family had returned home and the only ones we knew would be attending were Kirston and Travis, so I called them in a panic to see if Travis would be able to confirm Mishell if Devin couldn't make it to church. He was of course more than willing (which we are so grateful for!), but luckily Devin made it to Sacrament meeting to do the confirmation. He did not look good...but he made it! Thanks to Kirston and Travis for coming to support us and for Travis representing the family in the circle. :) Elder Martinez translated what Devin said in the blessing for Mishell. We are grateful for him and Elder Barriga and all they did to prepare Mishell for baptism. Elder Barriga has now been transferred as of last week to another area, but we continue to meet with Elder Martinez and his new companion, Elder Bustos, weekly. We will next do the discussions again in English with the English elders. It has been a wonderful experience to have the missionaries in our home each week.

Here are a few little pre-baptism photos taken by Aunt Lara for Mishell's baptism program (THANKS LARA!!):