So Good!

November 11, 2013

This week was seriously incredible.  I learned so much.  We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders on Wednesday and the whole time he just tried to show me how to discern the intentions and the needs of the investigators.  Almost everyone here will listen to a message about Jesus Christ but not everyone is open to accepting the message of the restoration. We are working on finding those that are ready by telling them our purpose as a missionary right from the first contact.  Our purpose is to share the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ through a prophet and to help people make covenants like baptism.  A lot less people want to hear about that, but when they do...you know they´re good!

The first picture is of the missionaries that serve here in the Vale do Jatoba and the next area, Barreiro.  It goes Elder Oaks (an American from Colorado), me, Elder Carnauba (our district leader), Cristian (a new member), and Elder R. Souza (my companion). 

Cristian was baptized yesterday.  It was such a cool experience.  He is married to Idice, an all-star member in our ward.  She has been bringing Cristian to church for a very long time and taught him all the principles of the gospel.  He was basically a member in every aspect except for the baptism part.  We have been teaching him for almost a month now and set a date for yesterday.  When we went to their house on Saturday though, he was still unsure if he wanted to go through with it all.  We went over all the baptismal interview questions with him.  He knew it was all true but still was uneasy.  I kept hearing the spirit say, "just pray, pray, pray."  Elder Souza was hearing the same thing and asked Cristian to offer a prayer and ask for guidance.  All four of us knelt down and he prayed.  It was maybe the most sincere prayer I’ve ever heard, and the spirit was so strong. After, he said, "I think I'll accept the Elders' invitation."  It was so cool.  At the baptism, Idice gave a short message and bore her testimony.  She bore her testimony of the church and then thanked Cristian for making this decision so that they could have the priesthood in their home.

We also have an awesome new investigator.  The girl in the second picture is Grecia.  She was a referral from a member in the ward, and she is so elect!  We shared the restoration with her on Friday and tried to answer all of her questions (she had a lot). On Sunday she came up to us at church and said, "Elders, I already received an answer. What do I need to do to prepare for baptism?"  What?! I didn’t even know what to say. Also, she is dating a returned missionary who is less active.  She told us that she wanted to reactivate him and has already brought him back to church once.  This morning, at 8 o’clock, we had a lesson with her and taught the Plan of Salvation, the Word of Wisdom, and keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  She just kept asking questions!

This is so fun. 

I love you,

Elder Marsh