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We were attending a baptism in the Villa Rica Stake Center in Veracruz between general conference sessions. My phone rang. It was Elder Villalobos in Ciudad Mendoza which sits at the base of the extinct volcano, Pico Orizba about two hours to the west of Veracruz. They were also preparing to perform a baptism but encountered a problem. The man who desired baptism did not fit into the traditional white baptismal overalls. What to do? The missionaries asked if they should baptize him with the overalls covering as much as possible but with no shirt. Not a pretty sight to imagine. This suggestion came from the bishop's counselor who was presiding at the service. He thought they could do that with the doors in front of the font closed. That didn't sound right to me. We don't do secret ordinances without witnesses. We perform sacred ordinances with witnesses. I suggested that the man wear the white shirt he wore to conference. He came in a blue one and does not yet own a white shirt. Elder Villalobos said that he could lend the good brother his own shirt. Elder Villalobos is the one on the right in the picture. What were the chances? Zero. (The other missionary is Elder Chavez.) I told them to baptize the man in his light blue shirt. I could think of no policy which states that you absolutely must wear 100% white in the font. I know it is recocmmended, but . . . So, that was the plan--or so I thought. When the baptismal photo arrived, this is what we saw. Looks like overalls part-way on, someone's white shirt on backwards, and a towel or two draping the expanse. Pretty inventive, huh? And all in white.
1 comment:
Sounds like they had a good problem.
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