It Has Been the Best Week of My Life!

Wow what a week! It has been the best week of my life! This week was the week leading up to Connor’s baptism, so every day we saw him and taught him!  He also got his own place so he isn’t living with his mom any more!  So we helped clean it up and make it nice! Saturday was a miracle day! There where 4 convert baptisms! The 2 sets of Elders had a baptism and so did we!  So we had back-to-back baptisms all day with Connor’s being the last! He was so excited for his baptism!  I have never seen that kid so happy! It was so beautiful to watch and be apart of! I talked at his baptism and during the talk I asked him “How he was feeling? And he said, "I feel at peace and I also feel relieved." I found it amazing that he used those two words the Gospel of Jesus Christ really does give us peace and relief. Leading up to the baptism Connor had to be smoke free for a week and as I thought about it, this is the first week in his life since he was 9 that he has gone with out using a drug.  He is so amazing! After the baptism we called him that night and he said " Wow. I never thought that I would be a Mormon." Hahaha! It was so funny! That night we had transfer calls and so we called in and listened to the names be called and mine was one of them. So as of tomorrow I will no longer be in Valdosta. It has been bitter sweet. My first couple of transfers here I never thought I would make a difference in any ones lives. It was hard to see that what I was doing was affecting any one. But when we went to church on Sunday where there used to be 4 seats filled in our small meeting room (including the missionaries) there where 35 people in attendance in the YSA branch! It was a powerful fast Sunday and I could not stop the tears from coming! Seeing Connor confirmed was amazing and then the Stake President stood up and thanked me for all of the work that I had done there. It was emotional standing up and sharing my last testimony in the YSA branch. We left right after sacrament meeting and traveled to Macon for the mission leadership council to hear Elder Tony Parker speak to us. It was amazing and powerful experience to hear him relay the message that Jeffery R Holland had for the Georgia Macon Mission! I will never forget that meeting! After we returned to Valdosta we went to the Swanks house to say goodbye and talk and I got a phone call from the branch councilor. He told me that he just wanted to thank me for the impact that I had on him and the branch and that I would be missed. Again because I am a baby I was so emotional. I never thought that I would make an impact on Valdosta but seeing Connor get baptized and reflecting back on all the people I have met I can see that the Lord blessed me with the ability to help his children here even if it was small. But the impact Valdosta has had on me has been nothing short of great!  What a blessing it has been to be here and be trusted by my Heavenly Father to minister in this great part of Georgia! I love y'all cant wait to hear from you!