Elder Schweppes!

The Brazilians can't say Schwartz very well, so they call me Elder Schweppes (after this soda).

The Awesome View

Dear Family!!!

First off, I'm sososososo sorry that I didn't tell you guys last week that we had our P-Day switched from Monday to Tuesday this week.  It was because we got the opportunity to go to the temple today!  I actually didn't know that they switched our P-Day, but sorry for the scare.  Thanks for all the updates on everything!  It's good to hear that everyone is staying busy.  Too bad about BYU though... :'(

I don't have a lot of time to write you guys right now because we spent pretty much all day there at the temple, but this week I have lots of pictures for you guys!  This week was really good!  I was able to do a division (split) with Elder Iorg, one of our ZLs (zone leader), and he came into our area and tore it up!  He is such a good missionary and he really was an example for me on how I can improve being a missionary.  And that same day we were able to go out with Junior again and visit his little twelve year old brother, Rodrigo, and we started teaching him.  We invited him to be baptized, and he accepted, so every day this past week we went over to his house and we were teaching him and preparing him for baptism.

Also this week we were able to visit a few of our other invistigators.  We had a really good experience with Paulo's Mom this week. She went to church with him last Sunday and we were able to have a lesson with her later in the week.  She really wants to change her life because she has problems with smoking, and drinking, and she wants to be a better example to her son.  We had a really strong spiritual lesson with her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it can help us make these changes in our lives.  We invited her to baptism and she accepted, the only thing is that she want's to be prepared and be done completely with the addictions that she has.  Another good experience that we had this week was with two of our investigators Tadeu and Claudia. They are husband and wife and one of their daughters was baptized but is less active right now and Claudia's sister's family are members too. It's fun teaching them because Claudia was a former Jehovah's Witness and they have all of these really profound questions and doubts.  It's good, because their questions show that they have a true desire to learn more, and they actually have a great interest in the things we are teaching them. 

Saturday I was able to have my English Class again. It was really cool because some of our investigators showed up and we were able to have Rodrigo's baptismal interview at the same time. Usually for English classes I start by answering any questions or doubts that people have, then we start doing little situation activities for the students to get them to practice using the english that they already know. We have activities for example: You're in a restaurant in the United States and you have to order food and a drink or something simple like that. Usually we have about 8 to 12 people that come to English class each week, and after each class we get their information and we do an interview where we teach a principle of the Gospel and invite them to hear more. 

Rodrigo was baptized by his brother Junior, who is a recently returned missionary.

Sunday was a special day because we were able to have Rodrigo's baptism!  It was a really beautiful service and a lot of the members of the ward were there to support him.  It was awesome because Junior gave a really sweet testimony where he talked about how before he used to tell people that he was the only member in his family, but now he has his brother to enjoy this Gospel with him.  It just made me think of my family and how grateful I am to be raised in this Church with my family there.  I'm so grateful for being a part of this Church. I know that it has blessed my life more than I can understand.  I know that it is God's true church here on the Earth and that this Gospel is the way to true happiness.  I know that this work that Nate and I are doing is truly the Lord's work.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that he loves us so much that he suffered for all of us, so that we may return to live with our Heavenly Father again. 

I love you all! I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Schwartz

Eating Acai with Elder Steil