Loida got baptized!

So I am not going to bother posting pictures because I have already put them up on Facebook and Google plus. Actually... maybe that makes it easy to post. Let me check... Fancy that. It is really easy. Guess I will post the pictures. I will add a bit more details than what I did on Facebook.

We left for Xiamen Monday night. We arrived quite late because our flight was delayed. The reason we went to Xiamen was because that is where the branch president is. He had to do the baptismal interview, which meant that he either had to come here or we had to go there. I am sure he would have been willing to come here, but we had not found any place that Loida could have been baptized here. We figured it was just a great excuse for a short trip.

These pictures were taken about 5:45am so we were all quite tired. The sunrise was about the same time (Xiamen is pretty far south with an early sunrise). After we took these pictures we took a taxi to go to the ocean. There was a spot that President Britton already knew about. They have done baptisms there before.

Right before we went out we had a little meeting of sorts. The Brittons each shared a thought and we had a prayer.

The water was pretty cold so we went in rather slowly and I basically had to drag Loida out to where it was deep enough so I could baptize her.

I thought I would have to shout so the witnesses could hear me, but the water got deeper surprisingly fast and we did not have to go out that far. Once we were in the water, it did not seem nearly as cold (and it was not at all cold outside). It was a really special experience. The whole thing was quite fast. We were almost completely alone; there were a few other people who had boats for fishing or something like that. I am sure they were wondering what was going on.

Here is a group shot of everyone who was there. This is basically the size of the different groups in all the cities in China. Not very big, but everyone gets quite close, like a family.

This Sunday (today) we had the confirmation. Loida was baptized by Bro Knox (picture below) who is the second councilor of the branch. The blessing emphasized the love that God has for Loida and how her next step is preparation for the temple. Loida, myself, Sis Knox and Christina (everyone you see in the picture below besides Bro Knox) all were able to bear our testimonies. Loida got a bit emotional when talking about the first time she heard President Monson speak and how she knew he was a prophet of God. It was very tender the entire meeting.