Wearing White in Waterford!!

By far one of the craziest weeks of my life, but also one of the greatest!! And also want to explain What a kebaptism is a little bit more. I kinda ran out of time last week and just through the picture in there, but one must know the entire story behind the kebaptism. So over here there are these things called kebabs. They are basically pita bread filled with what's called Doner meat, and coleslaw. They are the greasiest and strangest things I've ever seen, but there are shops that sell them everywhere here. It is tradition here that every new Elder has to get the largest kebab possible and finish it all. This is the Kebaptism, and there must also be two witnesses there, or it doesn't count. Then after that you have to drink a coke to get the gift of the Holy Coke. So that is what I did last week! Haha now back to this week 

Monday-This last Monday we really didn't have much planned or much to do, so we decided to go castle hunting! We went all around the area looking for castles, and actually found a few! The coolest one was Waterford castle, which is now also a hotel haha! 

Tuesday- This is where things get interesting. So We had district meeting like normal in the mornings. We came back with the District leader and his companion though cause we scheduled for Dion to have his baptismal interview that day! We didn't have a date for the baptism yet, but just wanted to get this out of the way so he could talk to his parents and figure out a day. He passed with flying colors! We were excited, and he said he'd talk to his parents and figure out a day to get baptised within the next few weeks! The rest of the day was just spend finding. We get back to our flat that night and get a call from Dion. He calls and says the only day that his dad would be able to attend would be Friday... THIS FRIDAY, and wants it to be in a chapel in Clondalkin! We were kinda thrown off, cause we had nothing planned. So we told him we'd talk to a few people and try to get everything set up. After calling just about everyone in our phone, including the Branch President, The Elders in Clondalkin, the Bishop in Clondalkin, the Zone leaders, and even the Pres Donaldson! But after all that, we told Dion that we were gonna get him baptised on Friday! It was easily one of the craziest an most stressful evenings of my life, but we still had a lot of work to do before Friday haha.

Wednesday- A solid day that we just met with some Recent Converts, had a good lesson with our friend John, and actually went and did some service for a woman named Nicola. It was good to get back into some blue jeans haha.

Thursday- Another crazy day. It started of with easily the coolest member visit of our lives. We went to an Italian families house, played soccer in their backyard, and then made homemade pizza in their pizza oven. What more can you ask for!! It was seriously the most amazing thing ever and I had a blast! We then traveled down to New Ross and met with Dion again. We filled out all the baptismal record information, and tried to get as much set up for the program as possible. He really didn't want anyone there, which made getting a program set up interesting. But by the end of the day, we had a program lined up! 

Friday- The big day!! We woke up, got ready, and headed straight down to Clondalkin, cause it's about a 2 hour drive from Waterford. The baptism was scheduled for 12, so we got right to work when we got there. We met with the Clondalkin Elders and tried to figure out how to fill the font. We got water going, but it was ice cold. We tried pushing just about every button in there, but nothing was turning on the water heater. So then we resorted to trying to boil water in pots and using kettles to get hot water in there, but it still was very cold. So we just decided it was gonna be a cold baptism haha. We then had to run into an internet cafe to print the programs for it. It was the craziest morning. But everyone got there and we were able to start! We went through the program smoothly, and then got to the baptism. Dion is a very nervous kid, and was very anxious about the baptism. Me and Dion went into the bathroom to get into the font, and he started to freak out a little on me. So we said a prayer, and finally went down into the water. The first time, as he went under, he started freaking out and his leg came flying out of the water. I helped him out of the water and he was panicking hard core. We went out of the water to calm him down, and Elder Carlisle told me that his knee had come up and we'd have to do it again. He was not going back in. So we had everyone go back into the chapel to watch some Mormon messages, and we started trying to comfort Dion. After a while he finally was able to come back in and be baptised. Although the water was freezing, and he was very nervous, we were able to do it again and it went perfectly. It was the most amazing experience ever to be able to hug him after and tell him he'd done it!! So grateful for him and a Savior who made it possible for Dion and for me to be forgiven of my sins. 

Saturday-Saturday was our first slow and normal day after a week of craziness haha. We were able to teach Lisa, and she is coming along so well!! We also met with two African sisters from Zimbabwe looking for a church to attend. They had a hard time with prophets, but we have another appointment with them so that's good!

Sunday- We were able to confirm Dion in sacrament meeting! It was an amazing experience, and the spirit was there so strong! he had the biggest smile on his face after, and it's been so good to work with him these last few weeks. We also went and visited President Ryan in the hospital. He had to get surgery to remove a tumor on his kidney, and was recovering from it when we went to visit. The surgery went well, and he should be out sometime this week! We also saw our first hurling match! Hurling is an Irish sport that people are crazy about here, and Waterford was playing in the All-Ireland semi finals. So they set up a huge screen with the game in the middle of the city centre! It was wild haha.

This really has been a crazy week, but I have gotten more happiness in seeing a friend baptised than I thought possible! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here, and can't wait for another week!! Love you all, and hope you have a good week as well!

--

Elder Palmer

Mckay's first baptism (Dion, 17)

 Waterford Castle

City center watching hurling