A Baptism in our Branch!

 We were extremely curious about how there could be a baptism in our branch---not that an expat in China could not be converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and desire to join, but logistically how it could be possible?  So many hurdles!  We were amazed and so thankful to be a part of it!

The back story that we learned from the missionaries:

Back in October, a black man living in Lanzhou, China (pronounced Lon-Joe) wanted to find a church he could join.  He did an Internet search in Chinese characters that said, "what is the best church?"  That question landed him on a Facebook page for Mandarin speakers in Las Vegas Nevada.  The sister missionaries in Las Vegas reached out to Maurice.  (An interesting note: the mission closed that Facebook page down shortly after that because they were discontinuing that method of teaching.)  The sisters began to teach Maurice, he became interested and began changing his life and wanted to be baptized.  

➖Unfortunately, there were no members of the Church in Lanzhou and since travel is currently restricted, Maurice traveling to another city where there were members was impossible.  

💕Miraculously, in January, Douglas Castro from Brazil and a member of the Church came to teach international law at Lanzhou University.  A baptizer! 

➖Unfortunately, there was no one to witness the baptism.  

💕Miraculously, in April, Augusta and Gabriella Castro joined Brother Castro from Brazil.  Two witnesses! 

➖Unfortunately, there are no fonts in China, and a baptism where others might possibly see it (swimming pool or body of water) would not be following the guidelines.     

💕Miraculously: the group was able to find a hotel in Lanzhou with a bathtub big enough to immerse Maurice.  A 'font'! 

➖Unfortunately, there was not a nearby stake center or temple where white clothing could be obtained. 

💕Miraculously:  They were able to obtain something!  I don't know the story on that, but surely that was a fair challenge by the looks of it. (In the picture below where President Castro is standing, notice the length of his pants.) White clothing!

Another miracle of it was that women can serve as witnesses for ordinances.  Because of all of these things, Maurice was able to make a very important covenant and it was so awesome to witness! 

When the baptism first started, we were informed that the ordinances would not be streamed.  (The Handbook says they can be streamed only for close family members.)  But then Branch President Meyer came on and said that because we are in China, they were authorized to stream the ordinances. (See note below.)

After the opening song, prayer and talk, they went back into the bathroom to perform the baptism.  President Castro (who, just last week was called as our new District President) knelt outside of the tub and had Maurice get in and sit down with his legs straight out.  Maurice did fit in the bathtub, but just barely.  It was filled to the brim and I was concerned it would overflow. (It didn't look like it did.) President Castro said the prayer (English is not his native language so he needed some help with that) and then laid him back.  The baptism had to be performed 3 times as immersion was extremely difficult because of his size, the robe he was wearing and just the awkwardness of it all.  But finally they got it!  It was incredibly special; in fact as I'm writing this up, tears are flowing down my cheeks.   

After the confirmation, President Meyer urged us as Saints from all over the world to fellowship Maurice in his baptismal covenant.  He talked about the global-ness of the Church and how all of it is a miracle under our loving Savior, Jesus Christ.  As the Restoration Proclamation states: "We solemnly proclaim that God loves His children in every nation of the world." I surely felt that Sunday evening.  I'm pretty sure Maurice will never forget that experience!  I don't think I will either!  Very incredible!

Note:  The sacrament ordinance is not streamed during sacrament meeting.  Everyone turns off their video for 8 minutes to administer the sacrament in each location.