Hello everyone!
This week absolutely flew by! It’s crazy with all the work we do that one moment I’m at p-day and I blink my eyes and the next moment I’m finished with the week and ready to start the new one. This week was a good week! I had my first baptism. Her name is Vera Chaves and she is an amazing woman who has had many problems in her life but has completely changed. Anyway I’ll talk more about the baptism after I’ve recounted my week (baptism was at the end of the week). So p-day we had lunch with some less active members and watched Wreck-it Ralph 2, because Elder dos Santos had never seen it. After lunch we took a bus back to the city and went the library to email and stuff. After that we went back to the apartment to change and get ready for proselytizing.
Buuuut there was a pretty big storm outside. It was probably the best moment of my mission and Elder Dos Santos says it was the funniest part of his mission. We got out the front door and the wind is blowing the rain in all directions so we are extremely soaked in like 5 seconds. Then we start walking down the street, Elder dos Santos in front and my umbrella snaps in half! At this point I’m screaming like a little girl and I run back to shelter, hahahaha. After we made it about ¾ of the way back Elder dos Santos’ umbrella is shredded to pieces! (I have photos) but ya that was fun, haha.
Later in the week we had a district meeting, got on a bus for three hours. I’m glad to teach and practice my Portuguese. Throughout this week we have definitely had some funny experiences. For example, one member wrote “I am a member of the Turd of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” in someone’s bible haha. He was trying English and it didn’t work out so well, haha. This week we had lunch with a man and his family and the thing about this family is that they live on an extremely steep and long hill. So almoco [lunch] is a very hard, earned prize, haha haha.
On Friday we had our district leaders come over from Chapeco’ to do the interview for baptism with Vera and after the interview he bought pizzas, played uno and had a super fun time. It’s crazy how much fun you can have when it’s just you and your companion and no other missionaries for a month. But Elder Dote and Elder Moura are super cool and fun. They are both Brazilian. After Friday we had the baptism. It was so amazing. We all arrived and there were like 10-15 members. The baptisms here are not as structured as they normally are back home but it went great and was very spiritual. Me and Irma Chavez got into the font and she was really nervous because the water didn’t have enough time to heat up haha. But I said the prayer and everything went perfect after that.
After the baptism was Sunday and we were able to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is one of the greatest gifts God gives us on this earth. It was an amazing experience and I’m excited for my next baptism. I’m excited to help more people find the path back to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. I’m excited for them to feel the same feelings I feel. Of love, kindness, hope and the knowledge of what happens in this life and the life to come. I’d like to just bear my testimony in Portuguese real quick.
Eu tenho um forte testemunho de que Deus nos ama. Sei que através de nossos desafios nos tornarmos mais como Jesus Cristo. Eu sei que os familiares podem ser eternos e que por meio do plano do Pai Celestial nós podemos viver com eles para sempre. Eu sei que o Espírito testifica da verdade em todos as coisas. Eu amo esse evangelho, e esses ensinamentos. E tenho me tornado um homem melhor por causo disso. E eu sou muito grato por tudo o que tenho. Em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém.
Just thought I would share that with you all. And I’m so thankful for all your support love and friendship. I love my family and consider everyone who reads my emails family, so I love you ALL!
