Week 10 in Volta Redonda

Dear Family!!


YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE HAPPY BEFORE IN MY LIFE THAN I AM TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don´t know exactly where to start, but man do I have a lot to say!!!

So at the beginning of this week, our President received revelation and challenged our whole mission to get 100 baptisms this week, one baptism for every companionship. This week started off really rough, working really hard, but not finding anything! Even yesterday, until 8:30 at night, still had nothing. The Zone Leaders sent the sisters into our area and we worked with them to find a family to baptize. We went to two houses, but nothing really happened with them. We needed to baptize last night, we had 96 baptisms as of 8:30 last night. We left the second house with the sisters, and decided that we needed to pray. We walked down the street a little bit, and Elder Glade said a prayer, and we headed for a family that was really elect that we found last week. We found them in the street, well, she found us actually and started asking us questions; she seemed really interested from the start. So we brought her and her two kids to church yesterday for the first time, but usually they have to go to church twice to be baptized. But we decided that we would head over there and invite her to be baptized tonight. So we walked about a half hour as fast as we could without running, and we finally got to her house. At first we didn´t think she was home because it was really dark, but we knocked on the door, and she came out a few minutes after. We went in and sat down, started talking to her and we asked her what she thought of church. She said that she loved it and that she learned so much. She was participating like crazy during the lessons there, and it was so awesome! She also told us that she had received an answer during church today, an answer that she has been searching for for 20 some odd years. We were learning about gifts of the Spirit in church yesterday, and one of the gifts is to know that Jesus Christ is Our Savior. She said that she received an answer at church that she knew that was true and she had received witness of that. All four of us were just staring in awe inside of her house last night, the Spirit was extremely powerful, and we all knew that she was absolutely elect and that she had been prepared by the Lord for us. She had just recently moved into her house as well about 20 days before, and before that she had prayed to be able to find a house in Volta Redonda. I don´t have a doubt in my mind that the Lord prepared this way for her to find us and for us to teach her. She had been prepared for years and years before we had found her.

The Spirit was so strong during the lesson that we were teaching here last night, and before long, we invited her to be baptized....that night! At first, she just said, ``Tonight?! Seriously?`` But she has so much faith and the Spirit was so strong there, that she accepted the invite to be baptized! By now, it was about 9:15 or so, so we call the Zone Leaders to tell them to get over here and we run over to our Ward Mission Leaders house and tell him to call the Bishop and everybody! We go back in her house and Elder Glade started interviewing her; during the interview, Elder Glade asked her if she had problems with the Word of Wisdom, and she just said that she tried to drink tea and coffee before, but it just made her sick, so she didn´t ever drink it. ELECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY MOLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were getting everything arranged to get her and her kids to the church (she has two twin boys that are ten...........they were baptized as well!!!!!). She has a hurt leg so we had to get a car over to her house to drive her to the church. By now, it was about 10:30. (We had permission from the Assistants and President to do all of this by the way, don´t worry. He sent Elder Glade and I an email today that just said PARABENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) It was so amazing!! We got to the church, finished interviewing the kids and got everything ready to go. Our ward members are so awesome!!!!! We had about five of them there to help out, we even had this awesome member that I met in Barra Mansa who came with the other Elders, it was so awesome!! The Spirit was so strong and my heart was so full because of the love that they had to drop everything and help us out. I had the AMAZING priviledge to baptize all of them, and that was such an amazing experience!!!! Everything about it was incredible!!!!!! She was so elect and that was the first time either of us has baptized a complete family at the same time!!!! So Amazing!!! This was an absolute MIRACLE for us!!!!!! I couldn´t sleep last night because I was just too happy!!!! I never want to leave the mission now!!!!!!!

We ended up having 107 baptisms in the Mission this week!!!!!!!!!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know without a doubt that our President is inspired by God to do His work here in Rio de Janeiro (AKA ZION). Our district is having so much success now and we are being blessed for our obedience and our sacrifices!!!! My testimony has become so much stronger!!! I know that through our obedience and sacrifices, we can have miracles!!!! This is proof of that!!!! This is a new record for our mission, and it will only go up from there!!! This is only the beginning!! I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful miracle here no Missão Rio de Janeiro!!! Missão Maravilhosa!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so grateful for President and Sister Bezerra and their inspiration and help! I am so grateful for the prayers of all of you! Prayers really are answered, I know without a doubt that this is true! Faith is a principle of power!!!!!!!!! I will never forget this experience that we had, 3 Miracle baptisms at 11:30 at night!!!!! The LORD LIVES!!!!!! THIS IS HIS WORK!!!!!!! THIS IS THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST!!!!!!

Love, Elder McDonald