Diego's Baptism

Elder Fernandes, Diego, and Elder Andrew Schwartz

Well hey fam!

First off, FELIZ ANIVERSARIO MAI E PAI!!!!! Man, these months have gone by so fast!  I can't believe that it's already November.  I guess time flies when you're staying busy.  It's sounds like you guys had a really good week and lots of good times with family. Give everyone my love! 

This past week we had, was really good!  I got the chance to do two baptismal interviews this week.  The one last Monday was for a baptismal candidate of the sister missionaries on the other side of São Caetano and another on Friday was for the sisters in São Bernardo. The one on Monday wasn't my first interview ever, because actually, I did one for the zone leaders a few weeks back; but these interviews are always really good spiritual experiences. 

This week we focused a lot on Diego to get him and everything else prepared for his baptism.  He is so good! Everything we were teaching him, he was writing down on a little notebook and studying it.  He also got new dress shoes and new ties and a new shirt that he received as early Christmas presents.  Thursday, I was able to do a division (split) with Elder Dogget and he came here with me in São Caetano to do Diego's baptismal interview.  It was a really good division.  I learned a lot from Elder Dogget.  He's one of those people who is always smiling and always happy, and that you just want to be around. We were able to teach Alex that day and we also went out with our ward mission leader to make a visit to an inactive family. 

Another cool experience that we had this week was that we had Zone Conference again.  It was SO GOOD! I learned so much and it really re-energized me to go out and serve with greater energy.  They focused this conference on the word "OPA" which is said a lot here in Brazil. (It is a Portugese interjection that means “Hey!” or “Wow!” or “Oh!”).  They broke down the word into three parts Obediência (Obedience), Planejamento (Planning), and Acompanhamento ( Following-up), which spells OPA.  I learned so much about the importance of these three principles in missionary work.  Elder Fernandes and I made a goal to focus more on these three principles, and we are already starting to see great results. 

On Sunday, we were able to have a lot of really good experiences.  Wesley came to church with us and he was able to stay for all three hours of church.  We were able to take him aside during priesthood and share a lesson with him to help him to prepare for baptism.  We have him scheduled for this upcoming Sunday so we're gonna focus a lot on Wesley this week and do everything we can to help him prepare for baptism.  Sunday, we also got to hold Diego's baptism.  At first, it seemed like everything was going to go wrong because someone lost the plug for the baptismal font, but fortunately, we were able to find a "replacement," and we were able to fill up the font.  We had to start the baptismal service a little late but other than that, everything went perfectly.  The speakers were great, we got a lot of support from ward members, and the young men sang a special musical number for Diego.  It surely will be a day that he never forgets. 

Diego's Baptism

Welp, everything here with Elder Fernandes and me is going great.  We're working hard and staying busy and I'm loving it!  I hope that you guys have a great birthday! I love and miss you guys!  I know that this work is the Lord's work!

With love,

Elder Schwartz