Elder Jimmy Henderson: The death star exploded behind him as he flew out! #ripkambear

Sunday, November 5, 2017:

5:00 AM: Elder Henderson and Elder Whipple are peacefully sleeping in their apartment.

5:15 AM: Elder Whipple is awoken to a sudden and frantic realization that we never filled up the baptismal font for our fast-approaching baptismal service. Elder Whipple proceeds to wake up Elder Henderson.

5:20 AM: Elders Henderson and Whipple arrive at the church building in their pajamas with a large trash bag full of baptismal clothing... No gate keys. Two white guys hop the fence with a large black bag full of stuff. #notsuspiciousatall

5:22 AM: Elder Whipple turns the faucet to begin filling the baptismal font with water. Nothing happens. Goes and checks the water tank. The tank is EMPTY.

5:23 AM: Elder Whipple and Elder Henderson start panicking because we are supposed to baptize seven people in two hours and we have no water.

5:30 AM: We call the groundskeeper for the building, David, and ask him to send a water truck. David rolls out of bed and makes the call.

5:35 AM: David calls back and says the water truck will be at the church building at 7:00 AM.

5:37 AM: We call the Branch President, who lives very deep in Odumase, and ask for the keys so we can let the water truck in. He says he will send someone with them.

6:15 AM: Elder Henderson and Elder Whipple are showered and wearing Priesthood attire.

6:30 AM: Investigator, Joe, calls us and says he's at the church building and he has the keys.

6:35 AM: We collect the keys from Joe and open up the building. Joe returns to his home (driving his bus of course) to get ready for the baptism.

6:40 AM: Elder Henderson and Elder Whipple are collecting the baptismal clothing and organizing it for each candidate.

6:55 AM: The water truck arrives and starts filling up the font and the tank.

7:15 AM: Candidates and members start showing up. Elder Henderson starts the prelude music.

Needless to say, Sunday morning was a roller coaster. But it all worked out. We had 5 baptisms go through and the other Elders had 2 so that was really sweet. Our little branch is really happy right now. And it was a great way for Elder Whipple to finish his mission #ripkambear. He's already in Kumasi now so I'm rocking a trio companionship with the Fiapre Elders, Elder Barnum and Elder Dennis, until my new companion, Elder Congwa from Zambia, gets here from Tamale on Wednesday.

I know I said that we would be having 7 baptisms, but unfortunately only 5 were able to go through. So this week, Benjamin, Comfort, Alice, Joe, and Mary were all baptized.

Benjamin and Joe both called us late last night, too, and bore powerful testimonies to us over the phone about their conversion and how they knew that their baptisms were true. It was really powerful and a very special thing for us to be able to witness. It nearly brought me to tears to hear Benjamin tell us that when he first met us while we were singing, he had no idea that "it was God calling [him] back home." It was a really moving conversation.

The quote of the week also comes from Benjamin as we were creating his membership record:

"I may forget my anniversary, I may forget my son's birthday, but I will never forget the day I was baptized."

Also, we had Mission Tour this week with Elder Kacher of the Seventy. I was really grateful because I've been out for 13 months now and this is the first time a General Authority has visited this mission. His instruction was really powerful. He spoke a lot about self-purification, and what we can do to carry the Spirit with us more. We sang a musical number, The Prayer by Josh Groban, but we changed the Italian to Twi. It was cool.

Also, for part of his instruction, Elder Kacher was showing ways we can invite the Spirit back into lessons if we lose control. To give an example he pulled me up to the front and asked me to sing Nearer My God to Thee, immediately following, he had two other missionaries share scriptures about Jesus Christ and then we all sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives. It was super powerful! I really enjoyed.

Well that's about it for this week! Shout out to Brother Whipple! #yourenumberoneinmyheartkambear #dontworrykambearisaninsidejoke #itsmeantfortia

Elder Henderson