May 18, 2015 - Another baptism this week!

May 18, 2015 – Another baptism this week!
This week has been pretty good. C….. was baptized on Saturday!!  That went really well. He has progressed so much even in the last week alone. I'm so glad we pushed his baptism back a week, and it was definitely Spirit led. He invited a lot of non-members to his baptism too, which was sweet. Our ward mission leader felt prompted to ask him to share his testimony after the baptism, and he straight up told everyone to take the lessons to feel the same joy that he has felt. That was awesome haha. Then on Sunday I had the opportunity to confirm him, which was awesome as well! Love him.
I said goodbye to Elder Lowe on Friday. He leaves for Brazil either today or tomorrow. That's crazy. So he will be there soon.
Speaking of visas, I got an email on Friday, saying... There are new visa requirements for the LA Consolate! Yay! So I had to email Amber (at Church Travel) a picture of my driver's license. But, that also means that they haven't done anything with my visa yet haha. So, that's some news. I don't care. I love Oregon, and I'll leave when I need to. No worries.
I am a little nervous about the transfer coming up. I know everything will end up how it is supposed to be, but it just will be weird. Elder Watson has been here a long time, and could very possibly leave. We will find out on Saturday.

Elder Baldridge and Elder Pope

For the next week, I'll be in a tripanionship with Elder Watson and Elder Pope. Since Elder Lowe is leaving, someone had to go to his area to be with his companion. So Elder Wilson will go there, and Elder Pope will be with us. They are both from another ward in Dallas. So, we will see how this week goes. Could be interesting.
This week has still been pretty slow. We had a baptism, which was definitely exciting, but not much happening in terms of future success right now. I think we need to change some things in order to be more effective.
Anyway, spiritual thought. This week I have heard multiple times about how our personal conversion comes before anything else in the church. There are lots of great programs like home teaching and young mens and all that stuff, but nothing is more important than our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. We work out our own salvation individually. But, as we improve ourselves as disciples of Christ, the other things take care of themselves and improve as well. As each of us strengthens our own discipleship, then our families will be strengthened. As families are strengthened, wards improve. And so on. It all starts as we work on our personal conversions. So, focus most heavily on improving yourself and becoming more converted to the gospel, and the rest will follow.
I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Baldridge