Rains came a tumblin' down, along with a good old cold :P

Done with another week already... time's slipping through the fingers honestly. The rainy season's hitting hard now, but at least it's cooling the scorching brazilian sun down a little bit.

Like I said, the rains came down. And stayed inside my shoes haha

   This week has been pretty usual for me. Lot of rain, I got a pretty bad cold that I'm finally recovering from, but luckily the Lord never ceases to bless me with happiness and enjoyment in the work, rain or shine :) The other day we headed out with sunshine and everything, but when we arrived at 9 that night, it was raining SUPER bad, and I'd forgotten my umbrella. So, we walked about 15 minutes to our house in mid-shin depth running water, and even being drenched and cold, I couldn't stop laughing. I think this was the first time my comp has passed through something like this on the mission, but he was smart and even with sunshine always leaves with an umbrella :) But it was just so funny to me for some reason, imagining what the other people on the street or in their cars were thinking. Two guys in social pants and shoes, shirt and tie, one of them without an umbrella, and the two of us still smiling and shouting "Good evening!!!" to everyone we passed. Haha, such a great work. Even having a cold as well, the sickness hasn't even bothered me. Yeah I have a dumb runny nose and I'm all congested, but we just keep on working and teaching and we just forget about it. It's amazing the amount of strength and power the Lord grants us missionaries.
   This last saturday we found an amazingly prepared couple. They aren't married legally so it'll take a little while before they'll be baptized, but holy cow, talk about prepared. We found out the Jorge (pronounced George, but the g at the first makes a jshz sound (Haha, Aust can explain that sound to you guys)) who is a truck driver, had randomly found a Book of Mormon about a year ago when he was travelling across the country when he had a tire problem. He stopped in a little run down tire shop, and as they were fixing his semi, he saw a book shoved into a hole where the wall meets with the ceiling, pulled it out and found a Book of Mormon. He read a little and thought it was weird, but had always been curious about what it was or what it meant. So as we explained it to him and explained the invite that Moroni makes, saying that he needed to read, ponder, and pray, he said, "Sure I'll do this, but I already know it's a true book! Look at all these signs I've had in the last year!!!" It was truly humbling to see how much the Lord had already worked with them. Just as amazing, there at church, their very first time, Jorge's wife, Helena, signed up to recieve the Liahona for the next THREE YEARS! The very first time of her even hearing about it and she already signed on!!! They've already said, "I can tell you, this is the church where we'll be married, and it's where we'll be baptized." Now I'm just praying that I can stay in this area long enough to see them be married and baptized. Absolutely amazing how elect some of these people are isn't it? I think this shows me how even with billions of people on earth, God is intimately involved in every one of our lives, and if we pay more attention, I think we'll all begin to realized how we're part of something way bigger than we thought. I love this plan that God had, I love this Gospel. I love my mission, it blows me away that a year ago I was already in the field in Texas... Man, I don't even know what to do with the way time is passing. This church is true everyone, and the Lord did die and suffer for everything that we pass through. Miss and love you all! Hurrah for Israel!!!

  -Elder Ballard