Week #96 - Casper the Friendly Erin

Hey Everyone!

So I don't know if any of you were invited, but it sounds like Jonny's getting married! Her name is Erin and she seems like a really nice girl from the picture I received in the mail. Anyway, I want the family to be sure to congratulate him when you see him and maybe I'll see a few of you at the wedding. 

As for life in Petaluma, it continues to be awesome. We baptized Brian and Brett on Saturday- it was a pretty amazing experience. For Brett (the paraplegic) we had six people in the font helping him get baptized. It was a pretty cool thing to see the two of them so excited- they knew what they were doing was right. I took pictures and they are awesome.

Other than that, we had quite the lesson with Steven (the one with the total change of heart) on Tuesday. He wanted to meet again and learn more about the baptismal interview questions and make sure he knew all about everything he'd be asked about. We told him that the baptismal service was completely up to him as far as speakers, prayers, hymns, etc. He told us he really didn't have any preference who did any of that...and then he said "But...Elder Balagna...would you mind baptizing me?" I graciously declined. HA! Kidding. I was pretty blown away. This whole experience reminds me so much of Cara in good ol' Fairfield. As soon as she read the Book of Mormon, she knew it was true and was baptized right away. You could see the change in her entire appearance when she had the testimony and it's the same with Steven. He looks like a new person. I was extremely grateful for him asking me to baptize him. 

He's currently in Pennsylvania, but he's been calling us and telling us about his reading of the scriptures and asking how we're doing. He's such a good guy. I talked to him this morning and he said "It's good out here but I've been so busy- I only get time at night to read the Book of Mormon...and I want more. I'm hungry for it!" 

Anyway, Petaluma's awesome. I haven't decided if I'm really going to leave yet. Yesterday I got to give a talk in Sacrament meeting about the atonement. Overall it went really well. When I was writing it I didn't quite know what direction I should go with it since it's a pretty broad topic. But, I started off talking about God's laws of justice and mercy and getting into the doctrine of it and then talked all about the role it plays in our lives/how we can apply it and be changed by it. It was probably one of the better talks I've given, so I was content with how it all worked out. But, I'm about out of time, so I hope everyone has an awesome Memorial Day and I'll talk to you soon!

Much Love,
Elder B