We
had another convert baptism in our ward today.
Two of his cousins were baptized over a year ago. Their mom is a member but does not attend as
English is not her native language and so she does not always understand what
is being said. All of her children are
bilingual.
The member who gave the first talk felt
prompted to bear his testimony in Spanish.
The Spirit was louder than his words (for me) and tugged at my heart
strings (which evidently are wired directly to my tear ducts) and I was
touched. I think the family was as well.
I thought about many primary baptisms I’ve attended in
the last ward I was in – all of which
I have mentioned in various posts. The
bishop’s son made a
paper airplane out of the program which reminded me of the most irreverent baptism
I’ve ever
attended. I was also reminded of two
baptisms I had attended when the Spanish ward was in charge of the program – Jaime’s being one of
them.
Translators were provided for the
speakers who presented their messages in one language or the other. With the first baptism it was the same
brother that had translated from English to Spanish with the first talk and
then from Spanish to English for the second.
I had noticed that the English speaker
would say only one or two sentences and would allow the brother to translate
those one or two sentences to the end of the talk. The Spanish speaker seemed to start out her
talk the same way but then continued speaking without stopping – which I did
not understand until the translator stood at the microphone and said something
to the affect that one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is to bring things to
your remembrance. I don’t remember if
she was through with her talk at that point.
I think that she was and the translator had told us that the speaker had
concluded her talk providing him with the opportunity of showing us how gift that
worked. I thought it was very powerful.
When Jaime was baptized each of the
speakers brought their own translator.
The sister who translated for the Spanish speaker didn’t seem to have
a large English vocabulary as far as translating all of it accurately. Those that were in the crowd that had a knowledge
of a second language (for example my brother who served in Belgium who knows
French) could make out more words than those who spoke only English – but the
Spirit was felt as the initial speaker poured her heart into it.
I don’t think I felt the Spirit quite as much
then as I did today. I remember watching
Jaime who understood it all. I was so
proud of her for knowing what was being said.
I still am proud of her today.
She truly is my sunshine.
