Third email

Another email from Parrin! :)

Hello everyone!

Sorry I haven't written you all in a while. It has been such a wonderful two weeks. We have been prepping for two baptisms :) We had one for two wards combined yesterday. It was actually for a part-member family- a grandfather and his two granddaughters. It was so sweet seeing a family come together to get baptized :) I saw the joy on the family members' faces and their gratitude for them being baptized. The grandfather- Frank- had a stroke, so he was baptized in his wheel chair. Because he is so tall, he needed five men altogether to help him get baptized. Seeing all these men in the font was amazing and the fact that they were helping him was just such a tender moment.

The other baptism we had was for Kassidy, who is a teenager. She was so willing to follow the commandments and get baptized. I thought about people like her and Frank and how they are so willing to do what Heavenly father wants. And what He really wants is to bless us and for us to be happy. There is a scripture in D&C18:10 that says, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." And they really are. Heavenly father along with us have so much joy when we help them enter into the waters of baptism and immerse themselves in that joy that no other form of happiness can provide. True happiness comes form the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It really does. When we are obedient, we are doing what the Father asks of us but are also partaking of that delicious fruit that Lehi describes in his vision. The Gospel is that fruit, that sweetness and joy that come from it.

Our theme for Christmas this year is the Gospel is sweet. We want to share Lehi's vision in a skit for the Christmas program this year, so we are pretty excited for that.

Virginia is such an amazing area. It is the Bible belt of the nation. I have learned so much from the culture here. It is so different from California but the work here has spread so much. I am enjoying meeting new people and learning about who they are. There is never a dull moment :)

I hope you all are doing well :) Love you all!

Sister Habibpour