Sarah's baptism

For the past year and a half Jeff has been our Ward Missionary. Up until recently (when we got sister missionaries) we had no baptisms in our ward since we had been in the ward. Since November, or maybe December, we've had 6 or 7 baptisms. The sister missionaries are AWESOME and have been working so hard, it's been inspiring. Jeff works closely with them and so he has had great experiences teaching and meeting people. This past Saturday he baptized Sara and the next day blessed her with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost. He hasn't baptized anyone since his mission which was 10 years ago. This experience was also a memorable one as well.
Jeff's words now:
This was such a special occasion for me. I conducted the service wearing my white baptismal clothes. I took the occasion to share some of my thoughts at the outset of the meeting. I felt impressed to share with Sarah that there was a greater purpose for her coming to Alaska. She came here to help her cousin but clearly the Lord had a bigger purpose. It reminded me of how Katherine came to Alaska to be a nanny but ended up getting married. It appears that Alaska is a place that the Lord sends people to find greater purpose in life. The best part of the baptismal service was that I had the same type of spiritual experience that I had frequently on mission. I realized how much I miss those moments- moments when life makes so much sense and joy abounds. After the ordinance was performed, I had a moment of panic when I realized that I forgot to bring an extra white shirt. It was quick an embarrassing moment to stand up to conduct the rest of the service wearing a t-shirt under my suit jacket. At least I had a t-shirt and it wasn't my g's though. The mission president was in attendance and he found it quite funny which made me feel better. I will always remember the chance to baptize and confirm Sarah Smith. I am so grateful that she asked me to baptize her and that the Lord blessed us to have a great experience at both the baptismal service and confirmation the next day at church.