Hidden blessings

Dear Momma,

Baptism: We had our second baptism on Saturday. It. Was. Awesome. When we first met this lady she was kind of a sad presence to be around if I may be so bold to say. But as we met with her all the way up to her baptism we saw a gradual but incredible light overcome her. She jokes around and laughs and is incredibly happy. She has so much faith and such a desire to follow Christ. Before her baptism we had only met with her for a few weeks and she had read all the up to the Book of Moroni! The spirit was so strong at her baptism and she is already an amazing contribution to our little branch.

Hidden blessings: On Friday we were alone in the church filling out some paperwork when we heard some pounding on the door. We opened it and a lady bursts in and says, "I want to be a member of your church!" We were a little weary of her intentions at first because, let's be honest, people aren't usually that excited to be baptized without hearing anything about what we believe first. But we set up an appointment with her. The next day we went to her house and visited with her for a little bit and we discovered that she was desperate. She was desperate for love, for happiness, light. She was desperate for something and she wasn't quite sure what. She saw us on the streets and said she saw that we had something; Money or.....perhaps the Light of Christ. All she knew was that she was desperate for something different in her life. This lady, like many Armenians, has a rough life. She has lots of kids and grandkids to take care of and no income etc...... But the Lord has a plan for her. All of these things that she is going through has caused her to turn to Christ. Maybe at first it was for money or help similar to it but it resulted in a desire to be baptized, to find the happiness in life. I know that this was God's plan all along. And it worked. She has accepted a baptismal date for the 4th of October. She will be ready.
In our lives we have similar things. Maybe we don't have full responsibility to keep our 3 kids and 8 grandkids alive or maybe we do. Maybe we have bigger problems or maybe smaller but because of these trials we can humble ourselves and turn to the Lord. We need Him.

Marriage proposal: Sister and I were waved over to talk to a couple sitting at a table doing something that Armenians do with their fruit. We got started talking about our purpose and what we believed. It was going really well until the lady interupted and said, "Do you want to buy my son?" Which translated really just means do you want to marry my son. I kind of just brushed it off by saying that I had a boyfriend at home (it's okay sometimes to tell lies, just so you know). But she persisted and said, "Well what if we kidnap you?" (I'll write more about that later) I wasn't really sure how to respond so Sister cut in and said, "But she's in love!" They kind of gave an understanding nod and then we sort of just slipped away. (I'm not really in love btw)

This church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. It's all really true. I promise.
I love you from the bottom of my heart. I think about you and pray for you all the time.
Love, Sister Mads