Week 54

The week started off with an FHE at Vanderlei´s house with his family. I taught them how to make cookies and even though it was a holiday (Independence day for Brazil), we managed to find a small store still open to buy the things we´d need.

Gabriel, Bruna, Élder Lacerda, me, Vanderlei, Cristina, and Cauan

The next day we visited Silvia with the branch president and we got to know her husband. Even though the lesson we shared was really spiritual and everyone felt it powerfully, it was very apparent that her husband was not at all interested. When we returned he next day we found out that they´d had a discussion and he wanted Silvia to at least wait more before getting baptized.

The same day we visited Guilherme, a young man that had been baptized my first week in Lagoa Vermelha. We taught the Restoration to him with his parents and even though a month ago they hadn´t wanted anything to do with the church, now after a few visits his dad wanted to be married the following Sunday. We explained to them that first they need to be legally married and they said that they´d like to start the process.

On Thursday we contacted a referral from the branch president. His cousin is a member but inactive currently. She has a granddaughter living with her that isn´t a member however. We visited her and found out that her name is Karina, she´s 28, single, studying, and she was interested in getting to know the church. She´d been to church a few times as a small child in another city but she´d forgotten everything about it except that she´d felt really good when she went.

Later that evening we met an awesome family. There´s a grandma named Elena that lives with her 'husband' and grandson Igor. She has many daughters that all live nearby as her neighbors. We were able to get them all together and we taught them. They all paid a lot of attention and we were able to mark baptism dates with many of them.

The following day was Silvia´s interview. However, when we showed up there was no one at home. Later she got in contact with us and told us that she chose to get to know the church more before being baptized due to the things that her husband had said. That night we had an FHE with a member who invited a young man that lived nearby. We got to know him, he helped us make the cookies, and he wanted us to visit him at his house.

In the morning we´d helped Poliana (baptized a few weeks ago) to move from her dad´s house to a house that a member had rented out to her. It was great because now she lives next to 3 member families that will be able to help her.

Helping Poliana move

On Saturday we had a Zone Conference with President Campos. He gave a training on how to use the Book of Mormon more in our teaching.

On Sunday we had Stake Conference of the Passo Fundo Stake. Another ward was created and the anouncement of the dividing of the current stake into two in the near future was made. I was really happy when they called the new elders to be ordained in the stake and Vanderlei was announced. I´m so proud of his progress in these 2 months ever since the first day I knew him.

Silvia didn´t show up to church like she´d promised, and neither did many others invited. However, Elena and her whole family showed up by their own, right on time. The theme of the conference was perfect because it was on marriage and the family. Many of the investigators we had there felt the Spirit strongly.