Sister Agustin invited us to attend this baptisms-in-the-river event on Saturday. We couldn't pass up the invitation. The Vintar Branch meets in a newly-renovated home. The members of the home gave it up to the Church to be used as a meetinghouse. The displaced family is living in a smaller shelter behind their remodeled-home-turned-meetinghouse.
Baptismal candidates were 15-year-old Beverly, niece of the Branch President, 12-year-old Mark, son of an less active father and nonmember mother, and 8-year-old Alyanna:
When we arrived, we found the relief society sisters behind the meetinghouse cooking up a storm! Apparently this is common practice for the Vintar Branch whenever there is a baptism.
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| Sister Agustin on the right. |
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| Hazel Joy Agustin, the oldest in their family. |
With the beginning of the baptismal program being over,
we walked to the river for the "baptism proper" to use their terminology. It was no simple walk:
down bamboo ladders:
across parched fields:
over the dry, sometimes sandy, sometimes rocky riverbed. (This is full of water during the wet season.)
And past scary cows: (This one started walking towards me when I stopped for the picture. I didn't know if she was friend or foe. Was she wanting a free-food handout from me, or was she going to protect her baby by taking me out? I didn't wait to find out.)
Final Destination: a cute bamboo shelter facing onto the river.
One of the three baptisms.
Drying off after the baptisms.
Poor Alyanna was nervous in the river at best. But when the baptizing elder kept walking her out into deeper and deeper water, it was close to being a deal breaker for her. The water was almost shoulder high to her by the time the elder stopped wading.
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Wet Alyanna staying warm wrapped in a red towel after her baptism |
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| Sister Agustin and "Homeless-but-now-has-a-meetinghouse-sister" |
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| After-baptism spread |
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| I took this picture just because she's so cute! (Pierced ears and all!) |
As we were leaving, I asked the elders to let us know when there would be another baptism so we could attend. Come to find out, the family of the above-adorable-toddler will be baptized on February 16th. We'll be back! Cookies in hand! (By the way, Elder's cookies were a hit.)
Love, Elder and Sister Eddington
Wow - what a sacrifice to give up your home for the Church. It looks like a very nice house, too. Humility is an amazing thing. We need a whole lot more of it here.
ReplyDeleteI thought Stephanie said "humidity," and I was just about to complain how dry my hands were. You two would have thought I was nuts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the pictures of the river and people drying off next to it, my first thought was, "Wow, that looks cold." But then I remembered that not every river is frozen over right now. Anything made of water around here is solid at the moment.
What fun pictures. I'm always so happy to see a post from you two. Let me know if Elder Cookie ever needs ingredients sent from the US.
Wow! That is amazing faith to give up your home. I'm surprised that the church even accepted it. That's why the people are so happy. They are far less worldly than us over here.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that "Cookie Grandpa" lives on. :)