David's Baptism

As I said earlier in my Christmas post, we had a wonderful time with Amber's family here. The greatest part of all, however, was something that none of us had planned for. After the excitement of Christmas had blown over, we were back to work and settling back into our daily routines when I got a text from Amber on Wednesday the 30th saying: "David's getting baptized!" I guess I should back up a little and explain that Amber's sister and brother-in-law live in Texas and got married while I was on my mission. David has been going to Church with Sharee for over 5 years, but never had the desire to be baptized yet. I have always had so much respect for him for supporting her and their kids in going to Church and even going himself. Sharee has been supportive of him as well, always willing to answer questions, but never pushing him too much. So when I got that text, I was overwhelmingly shocked! It was too good to be true! So good in fact, that I called Amber to make sure it she wasn't trying to play a joke on me. Haha. But sure enough, David had decided that he was ready to "take the plunge," as he called it. So they called the missionaries and they came over that afternoon and started the discussions with him. They didn't have to go into much detail as he already knew everything they were saying. I was able to sit in on the second day's discussions and it was so amazing to see David in that situation. He was so confident and decided in his decision and you could see that the Spirit was with him. And it was even greater still to see the look in Sharee's face and the love that radiated from her towards her husband. It's the miracle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's what I love and miss so much about missionary work... Anyway, we got everything set up and ready to go and David was baptized on Jan. 1, 2010. Even now I can feel tears forming in my eyes. Like I said, I've always respected David so much and looked up to him like an older brother. But when he asked me to baptize him, it was an overwhelming honor. This was huge, so huge, for him and his family. I can't believe that I was able to be a part of it. And through the whole thing, it just seemed like he was always going to be baptized, that it was just a matter of time all along and that the time finally came. I can't even find the words to explain any more than that. This family has gone through so much the past year and I don't think any of us could have imagined something this good taking the place of Dad's passing last year, not even David. Just goes to show that there's always a reason to keep going, to never give up hope, and to keep hoping for what we care about most. Congrats, David. You're the man.