Baptism

This week was so amazing!! I loved every second of it. I am grateful for all that has happened. So the best part was of course Bella's baptism. It was so amazing to see her finally get baptized. It was a long-awaited day for her and her family. The coolest part about her baptism was seeing her brother Julian, baptize her. He has had some struggles and he was working with bishop for a while and he was finally cleared to baptize her and it was so special to watch. He even brought one of his friends. As his friend was walking down the hallway of the church he saw the plan of salvation diagram and started asking some questions about it. Julian explained and then taught him the whole plan of salvation lesson and then invited him over to his house to meet with us. It was so amazing to watch him teach his friend. His testimony has grown so much as well as Bella's. I am so grateful to have been a part of their conversion process. I love them.

This week we also helped out with California Pioneer history day. It was also an amazing experience. It is a huge festival at Coloma state park. That was where gold was discovered by James Marshall in 1848 which led to the gold rush of 1849. So, for this festival they have tons of different tents set up with different things from that time period. Lots of people dress up in old pioneer clothing. It was so fun. As missionaries, we got to go help set up and then stay the rest of the day to enjoy it and help out in any other way. I learned a lot about California history as well as some church history, since the church played such a big part it the gold rush and in settling California. It is so beautiful out there. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to help out. This was actually my second year going. I went with Elder Toki last year when I was still being trained.

Well those were the two big highlights for this week. It was a fantastic week. Something weird to think about is the fact that next transfer we will have a new mission president. President Hymas will come in halfway through next transfer. I will definitely miss President Jardine, but I am also looking forward to working with President Hymas. I know they are both men called of God. It is such a privilege to be a missionary. I love this gospel.

Love,

 Elder Hallmark

Here are some pics from Bella's Baptism

 

 

 
We also went on a super cool hike today called Dutch Creek Falls!!