Aug. 20th, 2011 DANCE, Super Sabado!

Hey Family, I am so happy to hear about how awesome you guys are doing, I wish I could be there and see it all. Ma and Dad, for sure I will pray for you guys, Ma, that is a great idea, Bring your friend to church, that is the easiest way to get her in touch with the missionaries, and who knows, she might be ready to recieve it!! Tell me how it goes!! Dawn and Fanda, It is so nice to get your letters as part of the family Email!!! Tell Dawn I really digged his words of wisdom, you can believe, I´ll stay strong. Yea, the rumors are true, Brazilian girls are super aggressive, but no fear, that is why we have companions, we got eachother´s backs, no matter what.

I just wanted to share the recent events, this saturday was, "super sabado" We did the dance, it rocked, everyone thought it was the bomb. Geovanio is doing awesome, he was part of the dance and he helped out with super sabado, he is the man. The president of the branch told me the next day that he called Geovanio over to help him clean up and take things back to the church and as Geovanio was helping he was asking if there was any way to speed along the process of recieving the priesthood maior so that he can go on a mission sooner, President told me that he thinks Geovanio is going to ba an awesome missionary.

Yesterday we baptised a woman named Salande, she is awesome!! She is real old but she is full of spunk! She has loved the gospel so much that she has introduced us to all of her family, her 32 year old son Laelson and his daughter are preparing to be baptised this week. Yesterday we brought her Grandson Diogo to watch her recieve the gift of the spirit, in sacrament meeting there were 2 speakers, Pedro who was baptised 10 months ago and Keccio who was baptised 1 month ago, during my mission I have seen many sacrament meetings in my life, but rarely have I felt the spirit as strongly as I felt it there, and they said things that I knew were meant for our friends who are learning about the church. Afterwards I asked Diogo how he felt as the speakers were speaking, he told me that he felt something in his heart, I explained to him that that was the spirit and that when we feel that feeling we need to follow it, he then agreed to be baptised and together we made a goal to prepare him for the 3rd of september. Afterwards Pedro came up to me and told me that he didn´t plan to say half of the things he said but he felt like he should, I rejoiced when I heard that because I knew that the spirit had guided him to say the things he did, I explained to him that when we prepare and excercise faith the spirit can teach us what to say. Pedro told me that he prayed with a sincere heart that his talk in church would not be in vain and that good would come of it, I reassured him that good had come of it.

I am so grateful to have been put here in Penedo with the talents God has given me, I know that of myself I am nothing, but as I do what God asks of me and put my whole soul into helping others my Heavenly Father blesses me with amazing experiences. I want you all to know that I know that God exists, I know that we can talk to him, and he will answer us if we ask in faith. I love all of you and I can´t wait to talk to you all again!

New letter, new p-day each week...

Hey Family, I love you all so much!! I have been thinking a lot about how all of you are doing and I can only imagine how exciting it must be in the house, having Nicole there!!! Have Fanda and Don arrived yet, the other day I was reading thew advice book and saw what they gave me, kkk yes I am glad that I went to a cool place like Brasil. I can´t wait to hear how you are all doing!!!

This week is honestly hard to explain, there is a lot of mixed emotions, but it ended amazingly. Before Giovanio was baptised we taught him about the priesthood and how it is the power of God. He was very excited about it, After he was baptised we set up an interview with him and the President of our branch, we told him to be there at 5 hours in the afternoon on saturday, but he was way excited so he went to church at about 3:30 and waited there until 5 to have his interview. That night, he went with us to visit some of our investigators, we talked to a couple that needs to get married in order to be baptised, one of them was receiving money from the government because her husband died, she did not want to give that up. Giovanio told her to follow the commandments and that God will know how to help her, he then bore his testimony for her. She was so touched by his testimony that she told us that she is willing to get married, she then asked him if he was a missionary too, he responded that he is a member, and that the next day he would recieve the aronic priesthood. I will never forget the look of gusto on his face when he said that.

I am so happy for the love of my Heavenly Father in my life. I am so touched that Heavenly Father chose me and my companion to find and teach Giovanio. Even though I taught Giovanio, I feel like he has taught me so much more.

Basta-me dizer que eu me regojizo na glória de Deus, eu sempre estava bem animado para ir para a missão, mas eu nunca podia imaginar a alegria que eu tenho agorra. Eu só quero testificar que eu sei que está Igreja é verdadeira. Eu Sei que Jesus Cristo me ama e que Atrávez ele eu posso ser limpo de meus pecados, e eu não tenho dúvida nenhuma que Deus existe e que Ele está vendo nosso trabalho. Eu faco tudo possível para agradar a Meu Pai Celestial, e enquanto eu esto precisando ele me ajuda e eu posso sentir a presença dele, mas é só alguma coisa que a gente pode sentir quando colocamos nossos coracões nas mãos dele. Eu não só acredito, mas eu sei que este caminho é o caminho para seguir Jesus Cristo e viver com nosso Pai Celestial, e eu quero este felicidade para todo o mundo, se tiver um falta de sabedoria, peca a Deus, e ele vai te responder! eu digo estas coisas em nome de Jesus Cristo, Amem.