We weren't really sure what was going to happen this week with Jenny. We were praying a lot because we know that she greatly desires to get baptized but is very concerned about her body situation due to the cancer treatments. We were very worried that her body condition would just get worse and worse. We have been trying to be completely respectful of her decision, but both Sister Morey and I have felt the urgency of this situation as we know how bad her cancer is and because we know how important baptism is. We had been contacting her by phone but hadn't seen her since last Tuesday because she has been sick with chemo. I called her on Tuesday night, and she said she was feeling pretty good. I asked if we could visit and she said, “Yes.” This was somewhat of a problem as we had two appointments and a baptism we needed to be at. We decided to fenkai gongzuo, which means that you break up as companions and have a member companion. We knew we needed to visit her because if there as anyway she could get baptized on Saturday we needed to take it. We knew we couldn't delay. When Sister Morey returned, she said that Jenny still wasn't sure about her body situation but said that before she decided on a date, she needed to have her second interview. They had called President Chen, a member of the mission presidency who is a native and does the second interviews for sisters, and set it up right then.
Wednesday morning first thing, she had her second interview. We met President Chen at the church, and then he followed us in his car to her house. When they were finished, he told us that they had talked and that she was all spiritually ready to go for baptism, and that when her body was ready she would tell us and that we weren't supposed to ask her. This made me a little nervous, but it was also very a spiritual experience. He gave her a blessing, and we felt very blessed to have his inspired guidance. As we left, he was very comforting and reassured us that God was aware of her and was watching over her and that we didn't need to worry. He also gave us specific instructions for her baptism to ensure that she didn't get sick from it. So we waited with anticipation and said a lot of prayers for the whole week. We had an appointment on Friday to go visit her. She had said that she would tell us on Friday if she could get baptized on Saturday. We came and I had found a scripture that morning that I felt would touch her heart. It had nothing to do with baptism, but I remember feeling impressed the night before to find a scripture that would touch her and that would help build her faith. We shared this scripture, and the next thing we knew she started telling us that she felt Heavenly Father had been telling her through her body that she needed to get baptized right now because on Monday she felt so, so sick, but on Tuesday she felt pretty good. So when we called and asked if we could visit she was able to have us come, and then for the rest of the week her body felt really good. She said that she could get baptized on Saturday. We were overjoyed for this miracle! Saturday we went to the church early to fill the font. We totally filled it when Sister Morey said, "I don't think it is hot," which was a requirement given to us by President Chen. It was also just a nice thing for this poor woman who has cancer. The water usually is really warm, like a tub, so we were confused. We felt it, and it was not warm at all; it was like cool pool. We started to stress and found that the hot water was not turned on, so we turned it on. But it still had to heat up, and that is a lot of water to heat up. We said a prayer that everything would be ok and that the water would work out. We waited until the last minute to fill it to allow it to get as warm as possible. We started the water, and I went down to feel it and it was just as cold as it was before, but as soon as I stood up, Sister Morey put her hand down to feel it and she exclaimed in excitement that it was warm. It was a miracle. The water, even though on the thermometer by the pipe hadn't changed at all, was miraculously warm. Not super warm but warm enough to take the edge off. The Lord truly was watching out for us and for Jenny.
The baptismal service was lovely, really small but really touching. She was confirmed in Sacrament meeting, and in her testimony, she just bore witness of the simple truth that this church is true and that she is willing to keep the commandments. It was so touching to hear this. The Lord truly provided a way for this wonderful woman to receive baptism, and I feel so blessed to have witnessed it.
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