The Meenas were baptized on Saturday!!! It was so special and a day I
will never forget. It was at 10 in the morning (conference here starts
at 12), and there was a lot of support from the ward there which was
great. Lokesh kept asking me how so many people knew him and were
there for the baptism. We had a talk on baptism from a sister in the
ward, and then the actual baptism. Lokesh was baptized first, then
Kumkum (the daughter) and then Nirma. Kumkum could hardly contain
herself when she came up out of the water. She had the biggest smile
on her face. As we were in the bathroom braiding her hair and getting
changed, Kumkum turns to me and says, "So now everything that I've
ever done bad is okay and gone???". It was a really sweet moment and I
felt so happy to be able to reassure her that yes she was completely
clean. The Olsens who have been great friends to the Meenas in our
ward let Kumkum barrow one of their girls' baptism dresses which made
her feel really special. We went back into the room with everyone and
had a talk on the Holy Ghost. Then Sister Cleaver, Sister Stevens and
I all sang a musical number, I Feel My Saviors Love/Beautiful Savior.
Then a member of the bishopric welcomed them into the ward and
everyone stayed to eat and talk with each other. Seeing everyone from
the Bethesda and Potomac ward there to welcome this sweet family just
made me feel so blessed and grateful to feel of the love our Heavenly
Father has for each of His children. Conference was just amazing as
always. It's weird to think that last Conference I was sitting in the
MTC watching it. We had a neat day today for Pday. We went to the
city since sister Rees and Sister Cleaver both haven't been yet. We
got up at 4:30 so that we could get on the metro and be in downtown DC
before the sunrise. We went to the capital building first, since all
the Smithsonians don't open until 10. We got to take a really cool
tour of it. Everyone is split up into groups and you wear a head set
so you only hear your tour guide talking. It was so cool. Then we went
to the street vendors to look at cool souvenirs. If you ever go to DC
don't get them from the shops inside stores, get them from the little
street vendors that move around every day. They are a lot better and
less expensive! Then we went to the natural history museum. My
favorite section was the dinosaur and mummy section haha. Then we went
to Shake Shack which is one of the best restaurants ever!!! We had so
many people from Utah that recognized us walking around DC today
haha!!
So we've been meeting with Miriam this week and she loved coming to
church last week!! She told us she was really wanting to take this
seriously and learn as much as she can for "when she is baptized"
(those are the words she used). It was amazing to hear her say that. I
am so excited to see the Meenas continue to progress and have the
blessings that come from keeping our covenants. Sorry for not writing
a lot, but I'll make up for it in pictures!!! Love you all!
Love, sister Haertling
middle pictures: Meena Family Baptism
Bottom picture: Sister Kuhn and Sister Haertling in the city
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