On Saturday we drove to Los Angeles and arrived an hour before Vince’s baptism, so we went to a nearby strip mall and grabbed some lunch from Charro Chicken. Since Vince has only been meeting with the missionaries for a month, we did not expect many people to know him or be at the baptism.
To our surprise and delight, when we got to the church there was an entire room full of good members who came out to show love and support for Vince. The baptism ended up getting started almost an hour late and took quite a long time for a baptism service, and I was so impressed at how kind and patient everyone was with all of the waiting.
Before he was baptized, Vince sang, “I can only imagine.” Vince has a great voice! Abe then baptized Vince, and then Vince shared his testimony. Mostly he talked about my mom, her faith, and the trials she went through with my dad. Then the bishop stood up and shared what it meant for Vince to be baptized. It was a really sweet ceremony.
During most of the ceremony I was watching the kids go crazy in the gym. They had been cooped up in the car for the long drives from Orem to Las Vegas and Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and they were a little bonkers. Ammon also pooped in the middle of the baptism, which was problematic because all of our diapers and wipes were in the car, Abe had the car keys, and Abe was performing the baptism. We had a smelly time together.
We also got to meet Kamiyah for the first time. She is a beautiful little girl, inside and out.
Afterward, we all met up at my Auntie Geri’s house and then went out to eat at the Filipino Restaurant, Goldilocks. I ordered fresh lumpia and adobo, but then I saw my Auntie Geri’s palabok and ordered that too. We only eat Filipino food once a year in L.A., so we had to make the most of it. After dinner, Abe and I split a halo halo ice cream while the kids ate coconut, mango, and ube ice cream.
Then we went to our hotel in Long Beach, the Courtyard Long Beach Downtown Marriott. It was really nice and the kids were so wonderful and slept through the night!