Hey Guys,
This was such an awesome week here! I love this place! I have to say that this is the best area that I have been in my whole mission. We have so much help and support from the members here, it is amazing! Most of the ten recently returned missionaries in the ward help us a lot and the Bishop is amazing! I still get a lot of jokes about McDonald´s, but what´s new? The love that here. We had two baptisms yesterday; they were two kids in this amazing family that I was talking to you guys about last week! Their parents finally let them get baptized, it was so cool! I told my companion that they were the reason that I came to this area and they are the reason that he stayed here one more transfer, such an elect family. Now we just need to get the mom, Rose, married and baptize her and her other two kids. The dad was already baptized a long time ago, but we are working to get him back to church; he is going to another church right now, but we´re hoping that with the baptism of his kids yesterday, the Spirit will help him come back. The more and more that I´m here on the mission, the more I realize that I don´t do anything. The Lord does everything.
Earlier during the week, I was getting nervous because Vitor and Vitória´s parents weren´t wanting them to get baptized at all. We brought Elder R. Corrêa over there to interview them and they were really excited to get baptized, but up until Saturday, they still weren´t firm to get baptized. We had been praying and fasting for them and the Lord heard and answered our prayers. When we went there on Saturday after the conference in Petrópolis on Friday, the first thing that Vitor said when we got to his house was that his dad gave him permission to get baptized! I got so happy! The baptism yesterday was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have ever had. One of the returned missionaries, Monique, gave an amazing message at the baptisms and I don´t think there was a dry eye in the room. The Spirit was so strong there. Their mom, Rose, was really happy and had tears in her eyes after she saw them both come up out of the water. Rose reminds me a lot of you, Mom. She is really funny and loves to joke around a lot and she looks like you I think. This family is incredible. Another returned missionary, Edimar, came with us to pick them up yesterday morning and that helped a ton. The people here are amazing! I`m in heaven here, I`m telling you. This place is incredible. The Lord is blessing us a lot.
Luciana and her family sent me another email (the awesome members from Galeão) They told me to tell you guys hi and that they love you haha. They are awesome, I really, really miss that ward as well. I really have been blessed with amazing areas. I´m grateful for that. She said for me to pass by there again before I leave to come home because she wants to give me some stuff to take home with me, oh goody :) I really miss the people in that ward, they are so cool. I honestly am going to have to visit the mission again after I get home; visit these amazing areas that I passed.
The Zone Conference that we had on Friday was amazing. We woke up at 3 in the morning after going to bed at 1 because of the crazy buses that stopped passing at 10:30. We were still in Resende after the interviews in my area and we went to the bus station to go to Volta Redonda. We sat there for about an hour only to find out that the bus that we wanted wasn´t going to pass again until the next day, so we had to walk another half hour or so to another bus station on the complete other side of the city, only to find out that there wasn´t any buses there either. So our only alternative was to take a taxi to Volta Redonda. Yikes. That wasn´t cheap. At least we will get a reimbursement for that as well. So we finally get there, go to sleep, get up two hours later and have another three hour bus ride to Petrópolis. It was cool. We met President and his family and they taught us about the new ideas for the mission. President said that when he was set apart as mission president by Elder Christofferson, Elder Christofferson said that he was called here to establish a temple in Rio. That was our focus before with President Bezerra, but it is even more so now. It is cool to see the differences between my two Presidents, they are a lot different, but I know that they are both called of God. It will be cool to work with him these next few months, I can´t believe I am even saying that. A few months is all. Scary.
Well, I love you all. Hope that you had a great 4th of July. Sounds like that Kansas concert was awesome, I´m jealous. I´m loving this area!! I´m doing amazing!! Talk to you all next week!!
Love, Elder McDonald
This was such an awesome week here! I love this place! I have to say that this is the best area that I have been in my whole mission. We have so much help and support from the members here, it is amazing! Most of the ten recently returned missionaries in the ward help us a lot and the Bishop is amazing! I still get a lot of jokes about McDonald´s, but what´s new? The love that here. We had two baptisms yesterday; they were two kids in this amazing family that I was talking to you guys about last week! Their parents finally let them get baptized, it was so cool! I told my companion that they were the reason that I came to this area and they are the reason that he stayed here one more transfer, such an elect family. Now we just need to get the mom, Rose, married and baptize her and her other two kids. The dad was already baptized a long time ago, but we are working to get him back to church; he is going to another church right now, but we´re hoping that with the baptism of his kids yesterday, the Spirit will help him come back. The more and more that I´m here on the mission, the more I realize that I don´t do anything. The Lord does everything.
Earlier during the week, I was getting nervous because Vitor and Vitória´s parents weren´t wanting them to get baptized at all. We brought Elder R. Corrêa over there to interview them and they were really excited to get baptized, but up until Saturday, they still weren´t firm to get baptized. We had been praying and fasting for them and the Lord heard and answered our prayers. When we went there on Saturday after the conference in Petrópolis on Friday, the first thing that Vitor said when we got to his house was that his dad gave him permission to get baptized! I got so happy! The baptism yesterday was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have ever had. One of the returned missionaries, Monique, gave an amazing message at the baptisms and I don´t think there was a dry eye in the room. The Spirit was so strong there. Their mom, Rose, was really happy and had tears in her eyes after she saw them both come up out of the water. Rose reminds me a lot of you, Mom. She is really funny and loves to joke around a lot and she looks like you I think. This family is incredible. Another returned missionary, Edimar, came with us to pick them up yesterday morning and that helped a ton. The people here are amazing! I`m in heaven here, I`m telling you. This place is incredible. The Lord is blessing us a lot.
Luciana and her family sent me another email (the awesome members from Galeão) They told me to tell you guys hi and that they love you haha. They are awesome, I really, really miss that ward as well. I really have been blessed with amazing areas. I´m grateful for that. She said for me to pass by there again before I leave to come home because she wants to give me some stuff to take home with me, oh goody :) I really miss the people in that ward, they are so cool. I honestly am going to have to visit the mission again after I get home; visit these amazing areas that I passed.
The Zone Conference that we had on Friday was amazing. We woke up at 3 in the morning after going to bed at 1 because of the crazy buses that stopped passing at 10:30. We were still in Resende after the interviews in my area and we went to the bus station to go to Volta Redonda. We sat there for about an hour only to find out that the bus that we wanted wasn´t going to pass again until the next day, so we had to walk another half hour or so to another bus station on the complete other side of the city, only to find out that there wasn´t any buses there either. So our only alternative was to take a taxi to Volta Redonda. Yikes. That wasn´t cheap. At least we will get a reimbursement for that as well. So we finally get there, go to sleep, get up two hours later and have another three hour bus ride to Petrópolis. It was cool. We met President and his family and they taught us about the new ideas for the mission. President said that when he was set apart as mission president by Elder Christofferson, Elder Christofferson said that he was called here to establish a temple in Rio. That was our focus before with President Bezerra, but it is even more so now. It is cool to see the differences between my two Presidents, they are a lot different, but I know that they are both called of God. It will be cool to work with him these next few months, I can´t believe I am even saying that. A few months is all. Scary.
Well, I love you all. Hope that you had a great 4th of July. Sounds like that Kansas concert was awesome, I´m jealous. I´m loving this area!! I´m doing amazing!! Talk to you all next week!!
Love, Elder McDonald
No comments:
Post a Comment