Super good week, the people we're teaching are blowing me away with the changes that are happening... It's incredible.
Well, this week we have had the awesome opportunity to teach a lady named Gisele, and her friend Caios. We'd been teaching Gisele for a couple weeks, and Caios had just been at the house every once in a while, but he started getting interested so we'd been teaching the two of them along with Gisele's mom and family. The two of them a while back, had been basically totally lost in their lives, messing with drugs, drinking, you name it. Amazingly though, they've somehow been prepared by the Lord to start having an interest in changing their lives and Elder Da Rosa found them a while back. Anyways, after a lot of teaching and a lot of helping them, they've overcome basically all of their addictions and old problems, and this Sunday Caios was baptized!! I seriously am in awe every time at the power that the atonement has. These people seriously change SO much, and there's no way anything else besides the atonement can have that power. Because of a health problem on sunday, Gisele will be baptised tonight after p-day, but it's just been the coolest thing ever seeing them progress and grow and change their lives so drastically. I'm so excited to see them continue their journey after the baptism... I love it. It was kinda funny in Caios's baptism because someone forgot to turn off the font, so when we opened the doors the font was literally filled to the BRIM. So, when Elder Da Rosa and Caios stepped in, it started overflowing into the hallway. Luckily Brazilian chapels are all tile, but we were all worried about the water. When he was baptized, it splashed a wave into the baptismal room, and it was all just really funny. After Caios had left to go get changed, we realized that the plug of the drain had broken, so Elder Da Rosa had to like dive to the bottom and try to pull it out. It was so weird realizing that it's been about 9 and a half months since I've been submerged in water... Haha Elder Da Rosa has a year and 10 months so it was even more weird for him.
This has been a week where I've truly just realized how much I love this work. Being a missionary is seriously the most amazing call. I've been really digging deep into my studies especially of Doctrine and Covenants, and it's amazing how the true purpose of this life and of this church is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of ALL man". This is God's purpose and glory, so this should be our work and glory if we want to become like Him. I'm learning a lot about how the Lord helps us be missionaries in whatever situation we're in or will be in, and I'm just loving the opportunity to serve here.
Well, this letter was kinda short, but the work is wonderful. The Lord is blessing his lost sheep so much. Like I said, I am so excited to just keep heading forward with this work. I love being a missionary and I love this gospel. I love you all, thank you all for your letters thoughts and prayers! Hurrah for Israel!!
-Elder Ballard
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