August 15, 2010
Hello from Mt Gambier!
We had a pretty good week. Shannon and Tyson came to church yesterday. But most exciting was that we finally had a visit with Debbie and her family. We wanted to restart with the basics, so we just watched a church movie with them. We didnt want to set a baptism date. We want them making it to church for a few times regularly before they are baptized. That goes for all the kids we are working with. Its one thing to just baptize them. But i do not want to set anyone up for failure. I do not want them to make very important eternal covenants with god. We could teach them the Word of Wisdom and they can go to church and it will be supported but what happens when they go home and they see their mums smoking. That will bring confusion into their lives. Before we baptize any kids we want the full support of the parents that they will sustain the teachings of the church throughout the time the kids are living with them. Will they have family home evening? Will they have family scripture study. Will they make sure they go to activities and to church regularly. To be baptized is not just a social event, its not just a Christening and then having a few beers afterwards. It is not just a number for the church. It is a culture change. People should literally be reborn into something unnatural, they should be reborn a deciple of Jesus Christ. It takes decipline to be a deciple, hence deciple is the root word of decipline. I want to make sure the parents understand this. I will not baptize children who are going to go less active in a couple of months. I will not set them up for failure, they will have a better judgement with the stance that they had no knowlege of the gospel than if they go less active and do not endure to the end. If and when the parents sign that baptism form, this all will be clearly said to them. This is what is expected of them. So we will continue to teach and progress all these investigators of ours.
We had a crazy baptism this week. This young women in the Ward has moved like 20 times around Australia in her lifetime. And the church has lost her membership record. What is not recorded on earth is not recorded in heaven. So she had to be rebaptized. Technically it is a convert baptism, but whether they count it or not i do not really care because we had pretty much nothing to do with her conversion. She is a freebee.
Well i am going to go now.
Talk to you all later. Love you heaps
-Elder Montgomery
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