Baptism for the Browns!

I hope I never forget what a neat experience to be a part of Roxanne's baptism... from the beginning to the end (Wait! There is no end... it is and eternal gift!).

I had finished coaching a soccer game, and Roxanne came up to me and asked, "Can I talk to you for a second?" All I knew at the time, was Roxanne was Taylor's mom. :) She said, "I have some experience with this with my ex-husband's family..."

I thought she was talking about something I'd done wrong... like abused her son or something. :) You just never know as a coach what the parents are thinking!

She continued... "and I've been meaning to ask you for a long time... are you Mormon?"

Phew! Much easier to answer than the abuse fear! :)

"Yes!", I said. "Are you?"

"No... but, I want to be!", she answered. (the conversation continued about Taylor having gone to church for about a month while she and her husband's deployments overlapped... ya, can you imagine?! Basically, Taylor talked about how much he liked church. Roxanne was ready to make big changes in her life, and she noticed our garment lines and BYU apparel. :))

What?! Was it really that easy... missionary work, I mean. But, I've come to find out through Roxanne's conversion, that IT IS really THAT easy for those who are prepared to hear it.

We just happened to be having the missionaries over for dinner that week, and invited them to come.

"Really?!", she asked. "You would do that?!"

She acted surprised at the invitation... I was thinking, "Are you kidding me? I dream about missionary opportunities like this!"

The rest is history. :) Elder Barnes, and Elder Gallegos taught Roxanne in our home over the next several weeks, and on May 9, she was baptized! I should mention what a neat feeling there was in our home as the missionaries and Roxanne visited frequently!

I am so happy for Roxanne. She has never looked back. We have become very close friends, as well. We even had the opportunity a few weeks after she was baptized, to accompany her to the temple in St. Louis, where she was baptized for the dead, including some of her own deceased family whom she remembered. It is amazing what the Gospel can bring into people's lives. Throughout the whole process I realized all the blessings we have through our Savior, Jesus Christ. And, the blessings of eternal families... and even the "harder commandments" don't seen hard when you realize the blessings that come through living righteously. For instance, Roxanne expressed concern that as a working mother, Sundays had been her only day to get housework and errands done, so keeping the Sabbath Day holy sounded hard... but, later said, "Just like tithing, I know that if I give the Lord something, he'll give me back even more!" It is SO true! Sacrifices bring such great blessings.

Baptism is such an amazing blessing... a chance to be washed CLEAN! A chance to make promises to our Heavenly Father that you will live your life for Him... but, also a chance to get unlimited blessings for your sacrifices.

Roxanne, I love you. Thank you for making me realize how special the Gospel is... and, how blessed we are to have "the plan". To know what we are battling through life's challenges for a reason. To remember how important it is for us to always be working at being better. To realize how important it is to be examples to those around us, so that they too can come unto Christ.

So... it continues... and because of Roxanne's example, her mom is getting baptized tomorrow! Seriously SO cool!