Baptism at Hartney Bay

So, this past week has been pretty good other than it has been raining since last Sunday. Someone said it rained over 2 feet here this past week. There is one of those 3 gallon buckets outside the church and it was completely full. Every time we walked outside we got drenched. I forgot to tell you when I talked to you (Mother's Day) that we have 2 new investigators. One of them is named Cody, he is 18 and just graduated from high school on Saturday. The other one is named Jasmen, she is 16 and is living with some members here, so that's good news. We also had a run in with a wolf the other day...it was pretty sweet. And, no there are no bear safety classes, Mom, you either get killed or not, when you run into a bear, that's it. (I had asked him in an earlier letter if they went to bear education classes...I think they should....hello, they live in Alaska. I guess I will have to stop watching all the Alaska shows on tv).

On Saturday, May 15, 2010, Sean participated, along with Elder Giles, in his first baptism. Harrison (Harry) Cain was baptized by his uncle in the ocean at Hartney Bay. He is a senior at Cordova High School. He has been attending church for over a year, but had been waiting to receive missionary lessons, which Sean and Elder Giles taught. This was the report that Sean gave us:

So on Saturday, we were pretty much doing nothing all day, waiting for the baptism. We were suppose to umpire baseball games, but they got cancelled because the weather was so bad. Harry's Uncle was flying into Cordova from Anchorage and his plane was late and didn't arrive until 4:45. (We had to wait at the church until he arrived to give them their baptism clothes). At 5:00 Elder Giles and I left the church to drive to Hartney Bay (Elder Giles was driving). It was already raining, but began hailing and the wind was blowing at least 60 mph...it was intense. When we arrived at the Bay, the entire branch of about 70 people, including some family from Anchorage, were there for the baptism. Out of nowhere, the weather just stopped....it was pretty cool. We had to make the baptism fast because Harry had to get back for graduation by 6:00. So for 15 minutes or so during the baptism, the rained stopped and the weather calmed down. As everyone was getting into their cars to leave, the rain started pouring again. It was really cool to see a baptism in the ocean. I was able to get some cool pictures of it.

Sean also told us that Harry's immediate family also attended, although they are not members and don't want anything to do with the church. It was Harry's choice to be baptized by his uncle and to be baptized in the ocean. I asked him if he thought they were cold. His response was that their lips were purple when they got out....so I take that as yes.

Sean and Elder Giles also attended Harry and Cody's graduation. It was very small and short...only 20 kids graduating and lasted about an hour.