Fruits Of Our Faith

Elder Fernandes in our room

Our kitchen

Dear Everyone!

Thanks so much for the emails and the support. It sounds like everyone is happy and staying busy.  Sadly, here in Brazil they don't really celebrate Halloween.  They all know what it is, and I saw a few people dress up, but to the majority of people it's just something that they see in the movies.  But at least you guys sent me some candy corn, so I wasn't completely left out of the spirit of Halloween.

Other than that, we had a really good week here in São Caetano.  Elder Fernandes and I are really working hard, and we're starting to see some of the fruits of our effort.  Let me give you guys a few good highlights from the week.  Alex is doing really well and is making really good progress.  We were able to follow up with him this week about the Book of Mormon.  He was able to read some passages that we left with him to ponder and  pray about, and he said that he felt different; he felt really good.  We were able to help him to understand that the Holy Ghost was testifying to him that it was true.  He really likes the things that he is learning with us, and he has a desire to learn more. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to go to church because of an obligation he had to visit family members who live more in the interior of São Paulo. But other than that, he is progressing really well and is growing a lot. 

Another cool experience that we had this week was with Wesley.  I don't know if you remember him, but he is one of Sandra's kids from a few weeks back.  Unfortunately, we visited Sandra yesterday and she just straight told us that she had no desire to read the Book of Mormon or go to church at the moment, so there is nothing we can really do to help her if she has no desire.  Wesley, however, has a different attitude, and we were able to meet with him this week and take him to the chapel and have a lesson with him there. We had a really powerful lesson with him as he expressed how he's been feeling really lonely and we told him how he never has to be alone because he has us, the ward, and a Father in Heaven who love him.  We were able to comfort him and help him to feel better.  He also told us about his desire to follow Jesus Christ and to do the right things. He expressed his desire to be baptized and we set a date for him on the 17th of November.  Not only did we invite him for baptism but Elder Fernandes was moved by the Spirit to invite him to prepare himself to serve a mission and Wesley accepted! It was such a spiritual lesson and definitely one of the highlights of my mission so far. 

So in our ward there is this 13 year old boy, named Diego, that has been to church for the past three weeks with his best friend.  We were finally able to sit down with him and talk with him about everything that he is learning, and what he thinks about the church.  We talked to him about baptism and he accepted a date for the 10th.  Firstly, we made sure that he read the Book of Mormon and has gained a testimony of it.  So, we were able to meet with him yesterday and he said that it is true, and he want's to do everything he can to be ready to be baptized. 

These experiences that we had this week really helped me feel that all the hard work and the exercising our faith that we have been doing since we got here is finally starting show us the miracles we have been seeking.  I know that this church is true, and I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives.  I hope that everyone has a good week this week, and that everyone is happy!  I love you all!  Until next week!

Love,

Elder Schwartz