Constantin was Baptized Today!
The Baptism was wonderful and the spirit was so strong ~ you could feel it throughout the whole program. Because we are still under a "State of Alert" there could only be a few in attendance so the rest of us were able to watch it via Zoom Conference (this is a new way to experience baptisms and I hope it continues even after the pandemic passes)!
This picture was taken after the ordinance was performed. You can't see all those participating in the "Zoom" call but by the look of Sora's Teuscher and Perry, Pres and Sister Hettinger and Elder's Laker and Parker it was a celebration for all! 
These 2 beautiful young women, Sora Phillips and Sora Cleveland, met Constantin through Facebook. They taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and shared the Book of Mormon with him. He began reading and after a few lessons wanted to be baptized. They set a baptismal date for him! Constantin is in our Panduri Branch so after the the Sora's introduced him to Elder Firth and Elder Wilkinson they were able to introduce him to our Branch President and other members from our Branch (Elder Wilkinson has since been transferred to Constanta, in the East Zone, so he watched via the Zoom call). Elder Firth and his new companion, Elder Chandler, continued the lessons with Constantin!
Such an exciting time for all these sweet missionaries. How we love them and Constantin!
Such an exciting time for all these sweet missionaries. How we love them and Constantin!
Each Baptism contains the sweet spirit of the Holy Ghost surrounding and encompassing all those in attendance, whether face to face or on our Zoom conference call. This is Constantin with President Bobeonia, our new Branch Pres, who Baptism and bestowed the Gift of the Holy Ghost and confirmed him the newest member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!
Here is the beautiful program the Elders made!
Elder Firth conducted. He is the cutest missionary ~ he is very confident and we just love him to pieces (he reminds me of Kobe, our grandson, who I can see leading in the exact same way)! Pres and Sora Doru talked about Baptism and the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost. We had to keep the actual physical attendance to a minimum (because we are still under strict Covid19 Alert) but all of the Baptisms here in Romania are such a big event that the turn out would have been huge had everyone been able to attend. Watching by Zoom has been a real blessing. I was not able to take pictures of each block of those watching but I think it was around 30.
Constantin was the first today out of 4 in Romania to be baptised ~ I believe there was one in Hungary as well! There have been many miracles through media contacting! Always hidden blessings in store for us all regardless of our circumstances!
This part was the sweetest for me; after Constantin was baptised he was set apart and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the most precious gift and now for the remainder of his life, Constantin will have the Holy Ghost to comfort, teach and testify and be with him 24/7! What a precious gift Jesus Christ has given us!
Next Constantin bore his sweet, simple testimony of a loving Heavenly Father, of His son, Jesus Christ and of the Holy Ghost. He spoke of how the Book of Mormon changed his life and how he gained a testimony of the truthfulness of it.
It was amazing and so powerful. We love this man and he will be a wonderful member of the church and be able to help others Come unto Christ!
It was amazing and so powerful. We love this man and he will be a wonderful member of the church and be able to help others Come unto Christ!
I got to sit and visit with Constantin for a bit after the services. His greatest desire is to teach and bring his family into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It was so tender as he shared his love for his wife and 5 children. He wants to share the Gospel with his family so they can also receive the blessings of Baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Such an amazing man; his testimony is so strong and he is thrilled that he found the Gospel of Jesus Christ right here in Romania. He said he was so grateful to have met all the wonderful missionaries and this was such an important day for him. There is no better feeling than seeing one of God's children enter into the waters of Baptism and unite as brothers and sisters in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can still remember, at age 17, the feelings of that spectacular day when I was Baptism and Confirmed and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost. "It was a very good year" ~ February 26, 1977 ~ you can read all about it here: https://jamie5663.blogspot.com/1977/ 
Those that were able to physically be here were: Elder Matthews (Billy), Sora Matthews (me), Sora Phillips, Evalina, Sora Cleveland, Sora and Pres Doru, Constantin, Luka and Diana and in front Elder Chandler, Elder Firth and Branch President Bobeonia! I am not quite sure how our picture was so unbalanced, I know that, of course, it doesn't matter . . . but still 😏!
Afterwards we had a few little treats and presented Constantin with a framed picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ (and of course a little chocolate bar that he said he was going to give his wife ~ smart husband)! In the bottom corner you can see how Pres Doru tried 5 times to take a picture of me and Luka but never quite managed to get one with our eyes opened 😏!
In addition to the others we had (bottom row kneeling) Elder Ekstrom and Elder Church our District Leaders who were upstairs monitoring the Zoom Call, great job Elders! It really was a great day 💙😇💙!
