Independence : RED LETTER DAY

February 28, 2016

Toward the end of his mission, Dad used the phrase: 'Red Letter Day' twice in his journal. He wrote it first to express his great joy and happiness when Sister Marion Clapp announced that she had decided to be baptized and then wrote it again on the day of her baptism. She was baptized and confirmed just one week before Dad finished his mission and returned home. That phrase is no longer used very much today, but it had great meaning back then.

Sunday 5/23/48 – This turned out to be a “Red Letter Day” in my life! We held a short Sacrament meeting at the Woods, and “Sis.” Clapp said, “Elder Brown, I want to be baptized now!” I was filled with unspeakable joy! I couldn’t think of anything to say…What a busy day – but it’s been truly wonderful and thrilling. What a glorious work!

Sunday 6/27/48 – Well, I feel that I shall remember this day always! This is truly a red letter day for me. I gave the sermon and spoke for a half hour on enduring to the end… and I had the privilege of performing the baptism of Sister Clapp. What a glorious experience to welcome a new member into the Kingdom of God! I truly felt humble indeed, and the Lord blessed me in my efforts to do his will. What a lovely day! My how My Father above has blessed me!

Dad served two and a half years in the New England States mission shortly after WWII. Sister Clapp was the only person he had the privilege of baptizing during his entire mission. I can only imagine how happy he must have been knowing that he was able to bring Sister Clapp into the waters of baptism and why he used that phrase.

Saturday was also a red letter day for Robyn and I. Sofia Almaraz was baptized by her father, Gabriel. We have been working with Sofia and her family for about 2 months. When we first met them, they were less active, but within a short period of time, with a little encouragement, the family returned to activity. We hope and pray that we have many more 'red letter days' here in Independence.
As we prepared the baptismal program, we asked Noah to play the piano and Kelehua to lead the music. And since the twins had written to and visited with Sofia, they also attended the baptism. I know that Sofia really enjoyed all the attention.

Attendees

TEMPLE BAPTISMS

We have made it our goal to try and get every new convert to the temple as soon as possible to do temple baptisms. The mission president in Los Angels said that for every 20 investigators who accept the baptismal challenge, only one makes it to the temple to get endowed. He also said that the Church made a study and found that if a new member makes it to the temple to do baptisms for the dead shortly after baptism, 90% become endowed. Elder Bednar apparently was so amazed at the stats, that he asked that the study be repeated. This time, they found that 92% of the new converts who go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead become endowed.

This week we took Sister Adela Hernandez to do temple baptisms. She joined the church last year along with her teenage son. Her husband has not yet been baptized. She was so thrilled to be able to go. She told us on the way home that she is normally deathly afraid of water and was quite anxious at the thought of being immersed. But as she entered the font, a special peaceful feeling came over her and she was completely at peace. It was a great testimony to her of the power of the comforting influence of the Holy Ghost. We had brought some family file names with us so Robyn and Adela each did about 6 names. I was privileged to perform the baptisms. It was a wonderful start to the day.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

On our P-Day we visited with another senior couple, Elder and Sister McCuiston, who are Records Preservation missionaries. They spend every day at the National Archives and Records Administration building here in Kansas City filming U.S. homestead records. Elder McCuiston said that it is a pretty tedious job, but very rewarding, as the are able to help make these records available for temple research. All the equipment you see in the photos belongs to the church. The National Archives gets one copy and the church gets a copy. It's a win win for everyone. A lot of these records are falling apart and would soon turn to dust and be lost if it was not for the church offering to help. Most of the records they film are original court documents, detailing evidence of someone's right to a certain piece of property. Following the Civil War, every veteran was given almost 150 acres to homestead. As you can imagine, there is a wealth of information that when indexed will help in family history work. It is amazing what is stored across the country in the National Archives. The NARA told the church that the missionaries can not wear their regular missionary name tags. I guess they are worried someone might be proselyted. Give me a break. They do have name tags, but they are FamilySearch name tags, which apparently are less alarming to the public, I guess. They also wear regular street clothes which appeals to me, but I am grateful for our mission assignment. I think I think I would go bonkers working in a dark corner under hot lights, eight hours a day for 18 months.

On the way out of the building Robyn noticed a couple of neat paintings that had been commissioned during the depression to prevent starving artists from really starving. She loves this kind of stuff and so had to take some pictures.