March 10

This week has been amazing! I have been working super hard! We have 13 baptisms set for this Saturday. More or Less. We have two families for sure. I love this area. It has been amazing as i am hearing more. I can translate from Portuguese to English nearly 100% of the time. I just have trouble speaking.

I also wanted to share a funny story. So we are teaching Roberto and his family. We taught them the Palavra De Sabedoria last night.(Word of Wisdom). So we went through the 5 things he could not use. Alcohol, drugs, smoking, black tea, and they were totally cool with those. They said they would follow it! Then my companion looked at me. I knew exactly what i needed to say. I could feel i was going to be a challenge for this family but i said it nonetheless. Café! Coffee. They all looked at me with distress. I explained to them that everything we are commanded to do is because God loves us. Then I explained how if they change just a little it would change their lives greatly. ( I gave the story how if you were to fly from Fortaleza to Fortaleza all around the world. Then you changed your course with 1 degree. when you flew around the world you would arrive back 500 miles from your original destination.

They said they would follow it. The best part was. We sat their for about 30 seconds letting them soak it in. Then my companion, Elder Ross, Said, " to help you out, can we have all your coffee?" I looked at him exactly how all the others did. "What?" They said yes and we took two bags of coffee home that night.

We also had to move their baptism dates forward. The only complaint was that Roberto said, " I need to get work off, but yea it should be fine." HAHA! Its so cool to see when people receive answers to their prayers, how quick they will drop everything to follow Christ. It definitely strengthened my testimony. 

I am losing my companion next Monday. He is going home. It will be a little hectic with me traveling to Fortaleza. So it might be a different time when i Email.

I am so grateful for all of you! I love you all. Here are some pictures of our week. :)

Also! I made a new friend! His name is Felipe! He is a monkey! He followed us on telephone wires for a while. IT was awesome. We also had our first member baptized in Limeiro Do Norte. She is with the other missionaries. :)

Sempre Ama, Elder Riches