BERNARD WAS BAPTIZED!!!

Monday, August 23, 2010
Dear Family,
How are you doing?!!! Thanks for the e-mails! I can't wait to hear how things are at home! I hope that you've had a wonderful week, especially with summer coming to a close!
My week was great! Of course the highlight of the week was Bernard’s baptism! We had planned everything out so well that we were expecting it to be the perfect evening...but we had quite the number of glitches! We were informed by church leaders that we didn't need to turn the water for the font on until 45 minutes before the service. Zuster Pierson and I were both a little concerned about that but we made sure that everything else was completely ready for the service and trusted that everything would go well with filling the font. When we went to turn the water on at 6:15, no water came out. I started to stress a little but thought to myself that I just needed to have faith and patience. We tried as many little tricks as we could think of (the greatest one being prayer) to get the water flowing but nothing worked. By this time it was 6:30 and members and friends were starting to show up. I called up the building maintenance man, Brother Foss, and he agreed to come quickly to the church to see what the problem was. He went down into the basement and saw that two things were out and that they could not be fixed immediately. I was starting to panic! But ward members and missionaries and visitors came to the rescue! Everyone who came to see the baptism, young and old, began running from the bathrooms and kitchen to the baptismal font with buckets and pans full of water. We were making some progress, but not quite enough, so the Bishop pulled out the fire hose! Working all together we were able to get the font filled up in a matter of an hour, which means that we only had to start the baptism a half an hour late! Although it was stressful and didn't go quite as I had planned or hoped, working together in such unity with others so that Bernard could get baptized brought an amazing Spirit of love to the baptismal service and it was one of the most beautiful that I have ever witnessed! Bernard was soooo happy even though he had to be baptized in ice cold water, and everyone who was there was happy they came! And then to top it off, Bernard was confirmed yesterday and just glowed. I couldn't be more happy for him and I am so thankful that I was able to witness him coming unto Christ, and entering the gate that leads to eternal life!
Well, now that Bernard is baptized, we have no one with a baptismal date or even any investigators. We are on the lookout and we are excited to find many who are prepared by the Lord to receive the truth! I am loving every minute of serving with Zuster Pierson...she is amazing!!! She is actually from West Jordan and graduated the same year I did but we just never knew each other. It is such a small world! Every spare moment we have, at lunch, dinner, or at the end of the day, we have been spending getting our apartment all cleaned up...scrubbing baseboards and the grout in the bathroom! We are great cleaning buddies and our apartment is sure getting spruced up! I think this transfer really is going to be a transfer of miracles...I can hardly wait!
In two weeks we will have the privilege of hearing from Elder Ballard at the big mission conference in Brussels. It is going to be AWESOME!!! I know that it is still a long ways away but it is like I am a little child waiting for Christmas to come...I can hardly sleep at night! I am so thankful that we have apostles and prophets, special witnesses of Jesus Christ on the earth now to lead us and guide us. I know that they truly are called of God.
I am loving the Book of Mormon reading! I am so strengthened everyday as I read and I feel a special connection with all of you who are reading along with me. Thank you so much for joining with me to make it so special! I love you all so much and miss you so much! I was flipping through all of my photos of you the other day and just had such a happy and peaceful feeling knowing that whatever we face in this life, we will be together forever! Have a great week! Love ya!
Love, Zuster Sharp
YOUR PRAYERS WORK MIRACLES!!! THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR FAITH!!!