Larry Doxie's Baptism

Hey, everyone!

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes and gifts! They made what was already an awesome week even better. It's been a really busy one, so I'll do my best to do it justice in writing.

This Monday, we went on exchanges with that guy from the missionary department, Brother Glazier. Turns out his name isn't even Travis; still confused where we even got that information. Anyways, we had him from 4pm to 9:30pm, so we did our best with setting up appointments and making sure we were busy. Well, our 6:00 appointment cancels. Then our 7:00 appointment cancels. I'm sweating bullets, driving around our area with this guy in the backseat with nothing to do, so we go to visit some part-member families and less-active members. I'm so glad those appointments fell through, though, because he taught us so much during that time - it was remarkable. He taught us how to actually be missionaries. At the end of the night, Herlin and I were like, "What were we DOING out here before?". It was incredible. We talked about our purpose, how we best achieve it, how to effectively teach and contact. On Wednesday, we had a long leadership training meeting and Brother Donaldson and Glazier taught the leadership what we learned on exchanges. I recorded it on my dictaphone and I'm in the process of transcribing it so the entire mission can have it - it's about 11/12 pages of material. I'll email it to you when I'm done. It was such an amazing training that we're cancelling district meeting this Tuesday and having an impromptu Zone Training Meeting so we can teach what we learned from them. We've already applied some of the things that we've learned this week and seen amazing results. Most of the changes stem from teaching very simply and in short amounts of time, and it's working. 

Larry's baptism was amazing. I was sitting next to the second counselor in the bishopric during the baptism and he leans over to me and whispers, "He's going to be our bishop by the time you go home". Larry is on fire and ready to learn everything he can. His wife's family came from out of town to baptize him and support him, so that was really neat to see. A lot of people came from the ward to support him as well, and that was REALLY good, seeing as this was Nevada Day weekend (yes, there's a holiday called "Nevada Day", and people celebrate it) and tons of people were out of town. On Sunday, immediately after sacrament (where he received the gift of the Holy Ghost), he was given the Aaronic Priesthood and ordained to the office of a Priest - he's not wasting any time. It's absolutely incredible to see the stark contrast between several weeks ago, when he told his wife he'd never join her church, to yesterday, where he received the priesthood of God. The ONLY explanation is that he came to a firm understanding of truth given only by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost - there is no other earthly force that changes the heart of men with such power and conviction. Logic can only do so much; the spiritual witness seals the deal. On Wednesday, the most powerful thing that was said from the brethren of the missionary department was this: we need to understand that the only way that someone can fully access the Atonement of Jesus Christ in it's entirety is through us and the church we represent. We are, as missionaries, the gatekeepers of the atonement. The power of Godliness is manifest through ordinances, and that's what we're providing the children of God in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is no greater work.

I love every little stinkin' thing about this. And I love you.

Jesse

 

Larry Doxie, with his family, at his baptism