Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days of my entire life.
The past couple of weeks have been particularly stressful. Planning for
Carla's baptism has been a lot more complicated than I thought. Maybe it was
just me adding on, wanting to teach her more and more, wanting to make sure that
she knew exactly what she was getting into, but then in the past week I was
calmed by her casual phrase of; "I know I am making the correct choice".
How do I even begin to describe what an amazing person Carla is? I sit here
typing this out and I have no idea how to put into words the love and admiration
I feel for her. We don't even speak the same language! We've been communicating
through Google translate, and my relying on the similarities between French and
Spanish.
On the morning of Sunday, March 16th, Carla met us at the church at 7:45.
She walked in, hugged us, and then we got her changed into all white clothing.
We took a couple of pictures (they will follow next week) and we entered the big
chapel for the service. I spoke about baptism in Japanese, and another
missionary spoke about the gift of the Holy Spirit in Japanese. She sat there,
not truly understanding the words we were saying, but glowing with the feeling
that she was "making the correct choice". After the talks, I hopped on the piano
and played the only song I know on the piano (half of the duet My Heavenly
Father Loves Me, I fixed it up to make it simpler) while my companion sang in
Japanese to her. We stood up, took Carla's hand and led her to the font. She
took off her shoes and stepped into the font, glowing. The missionary who had
previously spoke, stood there waiting for her. He helped her down the stairs,
raised his hand and baptized her in Spanish. As she climbed out of the font, I
stood there holding a towel. I wrapped it around her and hugged her. She was
glowing.
I'll never forget the words she said to me. She knows that I can somewhat
understand Spanish, but that sentences are hard, so she usually speaks to me in
words. These are the words she said;
"Neuva. Gracias. Te amo."
I am new. Thank you. I love you.
This week's Disney reference comes from Tangled, because she said those
words to me and all at once everything was different, as I saw her,
glowing.
And at last I see the light,
And it's like the fog has lifted,
And at last I see the light,
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once, everything is different
Now that I see you.
