May 29, 2017

Oi Familia!

-Let me just begin to tell you that this was one of the most hilarious weeks of my mission. Because.....we baptized Napolian Dynimite!! Well his portuguese-speaking clone, of course (named Adilson). He is just a hoot (as mom would say) and has the funnies comments that make us roll on the floor laughing. Imagine 30 year old, tal, skinny man, with curly hair, a bold spot, big glasses with small hoop earings. He was a reference from Alan (recent convert) and he has such a desire to change, and follow Christ´s example. He loves to listen to gospel music (especially a singer called Fernandindo...who I think is very strange), and always shows us his “Jesus notebook” with quotes and scriptures that he studied. Like alot of people, he has a past that he is not proud of, and he is ready to completely change his life. Every lesson we taught him he would say “I don´t have a problem with this to be baptized”. He said that he wants to be a “true” mórmon that converts all his friends to be mormon aswell, and he wants to serve a mission for 3 years....hahaha! He is too great. His baptism Sunday had the whole room dying of laughter. Poor slob, the water was ice cold, and he began letting out yelps even before he was dunked down. After the baptisimal prayer, Adilson went under the water and .5 seconds later he shot out, jumping around, gasping for air, and waving his arms all over the place. Hahahha Irmã Neusa said that he looked like a cat, deathy affraid of the water. Sister Jolley and I could not stop laughing for the next 3 hours!

-Anyways, we have been working with Alan to be confirmed becasue for the last 2 Sundays he was working and didn´t go to church, and we think that he may have fallen into drinking again. So this week we visited him each and everyday to prepare him mentally and spiritually do be there. He just loves the Book of Mormon, and he had a spiritual experience with it this week, that helped him understand that Heavenly Father truly hears his prayers and knows him perfectly. (it was Alma 42 verses 29-31) We also did a object lesson to help him understand the great value that he has in the sight of God. We brought a dollar, and explained to him that no matter what you do to a dollar, (crumple it up, lose it under your bed for months,  step on it, or even rip it a little bit, it is still 1 dollar). At the end we gave him the dollar, and wrote on it “The value of souls is great in the sight of God”. He adored it, and he thanks us so much for not giving up on him. He said “when you leave Campo Bom, I want you to have a different image of who I am. I want you see me as the new Alan”. It is increadible to see the atonement work through Heavenly Fathers Children!

-This week Sister Jolley and I also gave a training to our Zone about how to teach better about the importance of church, and promissing blessings to those that go.. Who would have known that I would come to love giving trainings! I was a bit nervous at first, but I am learning that the Lord truly makes us capable to fulfill the callings that he gives us. 

-Another highlight was that we had 84 people in sacrament meeting!! That´s 40 more that last week....it was amazing because the stake presidente was there to see rows of chairs all the way out of the little garage.

I love, loved this week, and am so excited for the next! 

Love you all! 

Sister Hannah