Darlene's Baptism

Dear Family,

Darleen was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! I was so happy and excited for her! Laurie even made the trip from Omaha to come and speak. She gave a great talk about baptism from 2 Nephi 31:20. I was so proud of her and also of Darleen and her husband Denis. I think Denis really felt the spirit at the baptism because now he wants to come to the Spanish Branch in Grand Island (he was baptized a while ago in Guatemala). It was a wonderful event. I think one of my favorite things has been watching Darleen's faith grow. She already had a lot of faith, but ever since she prayed to ask if Joseph Smith was a prophet and felt the spirit bring that comfortable reassurance that he was, her faith has grown tremendously. We had a lesson about tithing on Tuesday night and we promised that the Lord would provide for her and help her get a job if she paid her tithing. Well, as she got back in her car to leave the church she found the $80 that she had lost a week or so ago. Our next lesson with her was also at the church and she brought her tithing money with her and got a tithing envelope all filled out so she could pay it. When she gave it to Bishop on Sunday, just before her confirmation, she was very happy and even leaned over to me to say "I've been holding on to that all week" showing what a relief it was for her to finally actually pay it. I really love and admire Darleen for having such great faith and trust in Heavenly Father. She is a very strong woman.

Funny story. We met a dog named Simon this week who gets his walks on a tread mill. It was one of the funniest things I've seen; this big hound dog with his leash attached to the tread mill just marching along, apparently trying to lose some of those extra pounds. Sister Warner and I got a kick out of that.

Another funny story. We were out visiting our friend Thomson when some rain clouds started rolling in. Before we walked to the next person we wanted to visit, I asked him and Sister Warner if they thought I should get my jacket from the car. Sister Warner said no, if we got wet we'd get wet and it probably wouldn't take that long. Thomson said "You know, it is going to pour now." But I ignored his warning and we started walking. We hadn't even gone a block when the heavens opened and we got soaked instantaneously. It went from two drops to sheets of rain in one second. I'm not even exaggerating. So we ran back to the car, completely drenched, and tried to visit people that might only let us in if the weather was insane. Well, the rain stopped not long after that but we still ended up wading through a few puddles and marching around with squishy shoes until dinner when we could change. The sun and the wind actually dried us off fairly quickly. Nebraska has the weirdedst weather.

Love,
Sister Bailey Mortensen