Hi everyone!
It sounds like you're all doing well--thanks for your emails!
Michele was baptized on Sunday and it was wonderful! All of the residents from her Praderwilli's home came to support her! It was a double baptism with Nate, who just turned 8, so the relief society room was packed--some people had to stand out in the hall to watch!
I have been worrying a lot about her and if the ward would take care of her once she was baptized, but things have fallen into place. Sister Taylor, the relief society president, sent all the relief society sisters an announcement about Michele's baptism, and in it she included some information about Praderwilli's, so all of the sisters know what's going on. Also, when Michele came to church this past Sunday, she wanted to go up to the front and bear her testimony! She has no inhibitions about anything, apparently.
She started off something like this: "I don't know all of the proceedings of this church, or all the proceedings of the life of Joseph Smith, but I do know that it's all true." Then she talked about how much she loves the Book of Mormon, and how it can help her in any situation, and she said that this has brought light into her life. Then she said, "My family doesn't understand why I want to be baptized, but I know that my extended family here understands (here she was pointing toward the congregation), so I want to invite all of you to my baptism tonight."
I was so happy for her! She's been meeting with missionaries since 2007 and has had such a long road to travel. And we still have a lot of work to take care of her as a new member! Anyway, the baptism was wonderful, but we had some funny moments because of all the young children/Praderwilli's patients in attendance. Michele has normal mental capacity (well, better than normal), but some of the other women in her home do not. During the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost, Michele's friend Yvonne was quite vocal in answering questions that were actually directed to 8 yr. old Nate. And her answers were somewhat off-base, for example:
Sister Patterson: "Now, who is the Holy Ghost?"
Yvonne (from the back of room): "It's the devil!!!"
Well, enough of that. I've attached a few pictures:
Picture 1--Me, Michele, and Sister Devenport before her baptism
Picture 5--Sisters Devenport, Wattles, Lyman, Hatch and Edman (the site director's wife). We stay the night in Kirtland twice a week now, and this night, we were celebrating Sister Edman's birthday!
PIcture 6--Maple Heights--much nicer without snow :-)
Well, I love you all!
Love,
Katherine
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