This was probably the craziest week of my life. Correction: this was probably the craziest week of my life. And, of course, what was the primary cause of the craziness? Mothers.

 

We have 2 investigators we focused on to prepare for baptism this week.

 

1) Kauã - The missionaries have been working with him for a long time now. He is 9 years old and lives with his aunt (member), mom, and grandma. He has been coming to church for the last 3 Sundays and wants to be baptized. We just need permission from his grandma and mom. This has been a challenge for us because the grandma is almost always working, the mom is almost always at the bar, and neither of them want Kauã to be baptized. But this week, we finally got the opportunity to talk to the grandma and teach her about the importance and benefits of baptism. After a couple dozen com certezas, she agreed to let Kauã be baptized. Unfortunately, we have to wait until we talk to the mother, but with patience and diligence, it will all work out.

 

2) Vinicios: 17 year old boy that a member and I found in the street during a ward missionary activity. When we first started teaching him, he had absolutely now faith in God and was full of questions and doubts. But he has been attending church every Sunday, keeping commitments, and even attending seminary. He has a great desire to learn and find more joy in life, but he has just struggled to gain faith. Well, on Friday, everything changed. We prepared a special lesson for him, answering his questions and studying scriptures to help him gain faith. The spirit was so strong and after 2 hours jam packed with scriptures, questions, and testimonies, he repeatedly said "I believe". We invited him to pray and it was so powerful! Afterwards a big wide grin came across his face, he was filled with pure love and joy. We felt impressed to show him the baptismal font. He asked us about the baptismal service and Sunday, and after inviting him, he accepted to be baptized!! It's been incredible to see how much the gospel has already changed him and the happiness it brings to his life.

 

Because he is still a minor, we had to get permission from Vinicios' mother. Later that night, we got a phone call from his mother, telling us that her son doesn't have faith in the things we are teaching him and that he can't be baptized... despite our disappointment, we were determined to soften her heart. So the next day, we visited the home and taught her about baptism. She had a lot of doubts, but it was awesome to see Vinicio defend his beliefs. By the end of the lesson, she said that Vinicios can be baptized with the condition that we wait for him to be more prepared.  Vinicios' mom leaves for the United States on December 3rd and will be gone until August, so this coming Sunday is the last opportunity Vinicios will have to be baptized. So please pray for him! Vinicios, my companion, and I have committed to reading the scriptures and praying everyday for his baptism to be this week. This will be a week to look forward to.

 

There has been a lot of gunshots on our street lately.  On Wednesday we obediently arrived home at 9:30 on the dot and heard gunshots on the street in front of our apartment 3 minutes later.  I was reminded the blessings of strict obedience to the mission rules!  I feel safe and protected doing the Lord's work despite the crazy circumstances.

 

Com Deus gente,

 

Élder Hamilton

Missionário de A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro