5 Aug 2009

Wow,
This last week was amazing! I am so excited!! This week we have 5 baptisms I am way Excited!! Jasmine, Arthur, Fatima, Gisele, and Rita, 2 different families I am way excited. Well Jasmine and Arthur are the kids of Hilda, and they are going to be baptized on Saturday, they are way excited, and everyone in the family is loving the church, the visits from the elderes and the Bishop, the only sad part of the story is that the Dad, Amilka, he ran away or something. We thought that things were finally starting to change, he didnt drink for 4 days, he worked for 4 days, and then just one day we recieved money from his work, and he just left. Without a doubt he is just way drunk in some bar in the middle of no where. We are trying to help Hilda realize that she and her family are better off without him, Edimilson their son that is 18, found work and is working to help the family. So they are working on moving on without Amilka.
Fatima, Gisele, and Rita are a family that is amazing!! They were difentely prepared before this life to be members of the church. 4 weeks ago we talked to them on the street, we marked a appointment to pass by their house, and now they will be baptized. It was like the easiest baptism in the world. They have no problems, no difficulities, the only thing was coffee, which they stopped after one day. They walked to church on their own without anyone, it is quite amazing. They serious are amazing. Fatima is the mom, and she is awesome. She has 2 other kids, but one lives in a different city, and the other is 19 and he is rebelling against his mom right now. So he isnt really interested. I hope that after he sees the difference the church has in their lives he will want to change too. Elder Garcia and I are way excited to work really hard this week. Without a doubt one of us will be transfered next week. (It is week 6 of the transfers ALREADY) I cant believe how fast time flies by, it is amazing. Yesterday was my 6 month anniversity here on the mission. Missionaries are way weird, so they have(had) this tradition where you burn a tie on 6 months, one year a shirt, and 1 1/2 pants. So I thought that was way stupid so I didnt do it. Elder Ficklin(an Elder that started with me.) was way disappointed that I didnt do it, but it sounded way lame too me. The mission is amazing!! I am way excited to work here in Brasil, it is defintely the 2nd best country in the world. I love this work, and love that everyone here loves Jesus Christ. Brasil has by far the most churches in the world. There are 10 on every street. Just one the street where our chapel is there is J.W, Quadrangular, Assembleia de Deus, Deus é Amor, Congregação, Igreja da Graça, Nasarath é Belem. So, it is quite funny. Everyone we talk to has a different opinion. But it is great. It is a great starting point for the church. I have only meet 1 person that didnt believe in God, so I think it is really awesome here. I am way excited for the ward here, they are starting to get really excited about missionary work. in my 3 transfers here I am been really blessed to help the ward here alot, this weekend with be 17 baptisms here in 4 and a half months. So the ward is really starting to love missionary work. This ward the first 4 months of this year baptized 2 people. There was some major slacker missionaries here, so the trust of the members was lost, but now finally the members love the missionaries again. Every single day we have the brothers of the ward wanting to go on spilts with us. It is awesome. I am way excited for the work here. Pray that I will stay here. I really wanna stay here in Anhanguera. I love it here. Well I have to run, Love you all!! Thanks for all the prayers, and support.
Matthew 16:24-26
Elder Olsen