Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Week 80: Almost a missionary's worst nightmare, avoided!!!

Hey everybody!!!

So, as the excitement in my text shows, we had a great week! Why? Because, WE HAD 4 BAPTISMS!!!! Frick yeah!!!! Its been a crazy week with some crazy stories, but here we go!!!!

Diego: He had been visiting our ward for a few weeks, but lived in Cidade Nova, so he wouldnt be a baptism of our ward. But, Elder Carr and I took advantage of him being there, taught him, interviewed him, and sent him over to there, all ready for baptism! We then had the blessing of having our appointments fall through on Saturday night, so we went over there and watched his baptism! It was awesome!!

Etevaldo, Mariana, Jefferson: ALL 3 of them were baptized!!!!! It was a super awesome experience!! Mariana and Jefferson, being Etevaldos grandkids (hes 74), were good with everything and just went with the flow. On Tuesday, we talked to Etevaldo (also known as Daniel, which is his last name) about baptism, and at first he was like, "Eh, I dunno if I want to...", to which his wife (who is nice but already is firm in her church) said, "Liar! Youre just afraid of being baptized!" "Quiet, woman! Im not afraid to be baptized! Thats ridiculous!! Dont listen to her, IM not afraid to be baptized, Ill be baptized." And, as it turns out, he was literally afraid to be completely under the water. So much so, that we had to try to baptize him 5 times, until we got it right. The first three times, the member (Matteus) tried to baptize him, and he would hold onto the wooden gate outside of the font, lock his knees, and at the last moment, popped up, so he wouldnt go completely under the water. Elder Carr switched into baptismal clothes to enter and help him out, as the guy was baptizing Mariana and Jefferson. Elder Carr entered, and they tried again, and again, he resisted. And then, Etevaldo stood up, put out his hand and said, "I dont want this anymore." Finally, we all talked him into trying one more time. Matteus did the prayer, we said amen...and then Elder Carr kicked Etevaldo's leg out from under him so that he wouldnt lock it. And so it was, the baptism FINALLY happened. Afterwards, Etevaldo felt like a freaking champ, victoriously laughing and accepting praise for his courage. It almost became the missionary's worst nightmare (someone deciding not to be baptized when theyre in the water), but in the end, it all worked out. And, Etevaldo brought 2 other grandkids that he wants to be baptized, Luiz and Eduardo. Were gonna help them be baptized on March 8.

Rodrigo: Got busy, but wants to be baptized. He'll be baptized sometime.

Alessandra: Same thing, but she'll likely be baptized sooner (possibly this week? :D)

Alex: Doing super well, believes in everything, wants to be baptized this weekend! Itll be awesome!


Other notes:
AMong this, we also officially reactivated a family this week! Rogério and Elaine were baptized a few years ago and immediately went inactive. THey started talking to us, and theyve come to church for the past 2 weeks! Rogério is actually Alex's friend, so we're gonna use him to help us out! And, he has an 8 year old kid that were gonna help baptize!!

We went to the Campinas temple last week! It was super duper pretty and big. Ill send pics.

And, for those of you that are counting down, this Wednesday marks the beginning of the Doctrine and Covenants I-miss-Elder-Youd challenge! Start reading one section per day (including the 2 official declarations) until I get home! (Starting on wednesday) 140 days left!!! Lets do this!!!

Alright, thanks for everything! Have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Youd

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