Oi Tudo Mundo,

 

     I could not be happier with my mission right now. Elder Freitas and I have so much to do here that we are running from house to house. The Lord is blessing us with great people and families to teach. One in particular being the family of Paulo, Sonia, João Paulo, Bianca, and Beatrice. We started teaching them about a month or so ago. João Paulo prayed to know the truth of the Book of Mormon and received a powerful answer. His dad had a dream and knew it was a true. After about a week or so everyone had a testimony of some kind, except the mom, Sonia. He was very hard to teach them all together because Sonia only worked evenings and she started working before we could go out to tract. So we continued to progress and we taught the rest of the family and played catch up with Sonia when every now and then. João Paulo has been in church every week, Paulo three times, Bianca and Beatrice two times and Sonia once. There baptism has been marked for this Sunday for a month. Sonia was having difficulties with work. She rarely got to see her children and speak with her family and husband. She would come home dead tired and not read the Book of Mormon. Plus, she always works Sunday Mornings. She loves us and always enjoys our visits, but her sadness and difficulties with work were holding back her progression. Paulo, two nights ago, told us that she didn´t want to be baptized and that if she was not going to be baptized then nobody was. He was very firm with his words. We promised Sonia about a week ago that she would be able to go to church every Sunday and have more time with her family and more peace if she prayed for it. Well, we arrived yesterday night and everything was different. Out of nowhere an opportunity cam for a new job were she would have time with her family and never work any Sundays at all. She told us that ´´Since you started visiting us only good things have happened, our kids are happier, everyone is more willing to help around the house, João Paulo and Beatrice want to go to church and seminary compared to before when we had to force them. I know this a good thing and the right thing because only good has happened since we met you.``

       The whole family will be baptized this sunday after the morning session of conference, and it wasn´t because of me. After all the lessons, after all the doctrine I knew, after all the work of Elder Freitas and I, it was the blessings and fulfilled promises of Heavenly Father that gave this great opportunity to this family. I love this work and I love being an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I love that family and when I heard what happened with Sonia I began to feel such gratitude for this blessing from the Lord. The night before when we found out she didn´t want to be baptized I was so sad, I returned home and read john 15 and yes, I cried while Elder Freitas was in the shower. Well, the Lord can work miracles through your faith, we can´t do anything, but because of the Savior all things are possible.

   I love it here.

  A woman quoted a translated version of ´´We are the World`` in Sacrament meeting. In her testimony she said ´´ If we all used our talents like Micheal Jackson to spread peace, bring joy, feed the hungry, and cloth the naked, nobody would be sad on earth.`` I enjoyed that talk a lot. Church is different everywhere, but there are still arguments in Elders Quorum about small Doctines, I think that is the same no matter where you are.

     I feel great. I am lost in the work. I want American snack food and candy. Also... I LOVE YOU NATALIE!!!!!!!!!

 

     Com Amor,

        Elder Nothum