Courtney was baptized and confirmed! It was one of the most spiritual baptismal services of my mission. The talks and music were incredible. The actual ordinance went perfectly--Courtney looked beautiful in white. Courtney has such a special, sweet spirit about her, and you cannot possibly be unhappy around her. The confirmation in Sacrament meeting yesterday was even more beautiful. Bishop Nabrotzky confirmed her and gave her a very powerful blessing. Courtney's special spirit was especially welcomed yesterday at church as we had a bit of a chaotic moment.
We were all chuckling in Relief Society to be singing, "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today" while it lightning'd and thundered outside. But as soon as the opening prayer finished we received an alert that a tornado had touched down on the interstate not too far south from us! Have you ever been in a real-life tornado drill with an entire congregation?! Luckily we were the last ward at the building so we didn't have to deal with the other two Franklin wards. There was a lot of confusion over where exactly was the safest place to go. History of meetinghouses determined that the central chapel and gym were actually the least stable. So we ended up lining all the hallways and staying away from doors. The nursery leaders had all the little ones in the bathrooms singing hymns, haha. The warning passed right as church was about to get out so we didn't have to stay too long. YES I was a little bit scared! It's second nature to do something for an earthquake or wildfire, but we Cali girls don't know nuttin' 'bout tornados! The weather was eerily warm this weekend; we enjoyed 70 degrees for a couple days, and then it dropped rapidly, which is what caused the tornado. It is now 30 degrees, less than 24 hours later.
This all reminded me of a dream I have been having a lot lately. I keep dreaming about very large trees suddenly tumbling over, and I'm trying to run and get away so I don't get hit by them. Yesterday someone actually bore testimony about an experience with seeing trees toppled over, though not in a dream, and he learned that it was because of weak roots. Is my subconscious telling me something about roots? How are the roots of my testimony? Could they be stronger? How about the roots of those I am teaching? It is not enough to constantly "water" them with knowledge if they are not building a strong foundation in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for our other friends preparing for baptism. Satan has been working very hard on them and it is a daily combat against him.
I thought this was appropriate with the title of my blog, "From Roots to Wings." This week I will definitely be making sure I continue to nourish the roots and not just the "foliage" of my faith and help others strengthen theirs.
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