Oi família!
Well, Independance Day has come and gone. Did I eat an omlete? No. A
snow cone? No. But, we had to stay inside again because
Brazil was playing again. They won,
which is a mixture of feelings. I really
am happy when Brazil wins. The only
problem is that it inhibits my perception of work. But that´s one of the things I´m learning
during the World Cup. Regardless of what
happens "no unhallowed hand can stop this work." But, Élder Freeman (the other American in the
house) and I celebrated America together, as you can see in the attached
photo.
Anyway, this week was interesting. We weren´t able to work a ton between
conferences, meetings, cleanings, and the world cup, but we still had a
baptism! Remember Rosa? Yeah, the one I wrote about for the last two
weeks! She got baptized! It was one of the most spiritually powerful
experiences in my life. The whole time
we were there the Spirit was soooo strong and really testified to me that our
Father in Heaven is very happy with her decision.
During our work with here this week, we had the opportunity
to pass by a lot and converse with her almost every day about her decision and
what she was doing. As we were reviewing
the baptismal interview questions she said one of the coolest things I´ve heard
in my life. We were talking about
repentance and after defining it she said she felt she had repented of her past
sins. Then she said "you know, I
feel like a new person. I feel closer to
God than I have felt in my entire life.
I feel like something is developing inside me." and then after her baptism she said "you
know, the baptismal clothes are a little weird, but there is this comfort and
power that you can feel when you´re in them that you know you´re doing the
right thing." Wow. This was truly an experience to teach someone
who was truly converted before their baptism.
But think about how that was possible. What did Élder Tamanho and I do to make this
happen? To be honest, not much. We showed up and said (paraphrased)
"Hey, read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it´s true." She did and now she´s a member of the
church. Rosa lives part-time at her
sister´s house and that´s where we´ve been teaching her. We´ve tried a lot to get her sister to
participate too, but she´s been more work.
We were talking with her sister, Eunice, this week and said "We
just have one invitation for you. Read
the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it´s true." She said she didn´t want to. We asked why and she said, "Because
everyone who reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it ends up being
baptized!" Just wait. She´ll get there too. But that´s the interesting thing. There´s no other way around it. The Book of Mormon is either true, or it
isn´t, and the only person that can really tell us is God. He has the power to open doors and knowledge
that we simply can´t. But how He opens
those doors is through our sincere prayer and study of the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it
is the reason why I am serving a mission.
I invite each one of you to share a copy of the Book of Mormon with one
of your friends this week. I promise
that as you do, miracles will abound and you will be able to see that the Lord
is preparing people who are only "kept from the truth because they know
not where to find it." The Lord
will do miracles in your lives in the same way He did for Rosa as you read,
ponder, and pray daily about the Book of Mormon. It is true.
I know it.
Até o próximo!
Élder Evans
I get so darn excited when I´m sending e-mails sometimes
that I forget things.
Here´s a photo!
Élder Tamanho, Rosa, Me!
Amo vocês!
Élder Evans
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