Week #23

Bazinga!

Random Thought: Naked mole rats are super ugly.

What a week!!

On Tuesday our zone leaders wanted us to go to Campo Grande (about 2 hours away) for a zone conference. So we moved all of our appointments back a day so we could attend this meeting. When Tuesday came we got up at 3:00am (that was the only bus that would get us there in time) and walked to the bus station about a mile and a half away. We got there and then waited until the bus came about ten minutes later and it turns out they had no seats! So we walked back home and went back to sleep. We were kind of frustrated because we had a busy week and we moved all our appointments because the zone leaders insisted that we attend...and then we end up not going. BUT while we were walking home Elder Bresciano and I saw an ant eater! It was huge! Like as big as me! He was pretty ugly. So something good came from waking up early!

On Wednesday we had lunch with this lady in our branch and after lunch we were going to teach with her! As we were walking I noticed we were going to a part of the area that I had never been to before, so I looked at Elder Bresciano and asked,"Hey where are we going?" and he just said,"I have no clue, we´re just following her." So that's what we did. We ended up in this pretty poor neighborhood where all the houses are made of tree bark and tin. I've never seen anything like it. We taught a married couple (Bento and Maria) the first lesson and Bento was really interested and even came to church yesterday! As we were leaving an older man showed up and we found out he was Maria's dad. He told us that he has been to many different churches and each one had rejected him for one reason or another. He started crying and said that he just wanted to be a child of God. We bore our testimony that he is indeed a child of God and that God loves him very much. He is now one of our investigators and thus far he is really liking our message!

Later we went to a different appointment but she wasn't there so we just had a friendly conversation with her grandpa! He is 102 years old!!! He is nothing but skin, bones and tendons and he is very proud of the fact that he does NOT take medicine. He said,"I´ll die when God wants me to." It was really interesting to talk to him. That night we went to teach a less active member that lives pretty far away. We showed up and talked with her for a while and then left a spiritual message. Afterward she asked if we wanted a little snack. Of course we wanted a snack! So she brought out this GIANT watermelon and said we could eat as much as we wanted! So my companion and I ate about half of it! Delicious!!!

Our next and last stop of the night was Edilson. We met him on a street corner while playing a tiny four stringed banjo and found out that he is 20 and in the military but plays his little banjo on the radio for fun. Way cool! He asked us what we were doing in Brazil so we explained a bit and asked if we could stop by his house later in the week to talk more and he accepted. Anyway! Wednesday night we went to his house and talked with him and his mom for a while and then got into the lesson! I have NEVER felt so directed by the Spirit in my life! We really just opened our mouths and they were filled!! At the end of the lesson we asked Edilson if he would pray about what we talked about and to know if it was true. He paused and thought for a second and then said,"I'm going to be honest with you guys. For a while I was searching for the truth and looking for a church, but all of them I went to just had something missing. So I stopped looking because I felt like I was shaming myself and God with my unbelief. But not long after I stopped, you two showed up. I think that God is trying to tell me that He is still here and that I shouldn't give up." What an answer huh?! He accepted our invitation to pray and we were about to leave when he asked,"Hey, my girlfriend will be here Friday night. Would you mind coming back and teaching her as well?" We accepted and told him we would come back! It turns out she didn't go to his house that night so we just taught him some more. It was another great lesson.

Saturday we had three baptisms! Emerson, Albert, and Matheus! They are all going to be in the young men's program with their friend Keven who was baptized a few weeks ago! They all were baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. I got to confirm Emerson! That's the first time I have ever done that! They all have the priesthood now too! The young men's president was super happy because now we have a young men's quorum! There wasn't one before now.

Well that's about it for now! Thank you all so much for the love and support from back home!

Jacob 1:19

Com muito amor,
Elder Roman Laws