Dear Everyone,
Well that was a fulfilling week for sure! I feel so good right now and I know that God hears and answers prayers and blesses those who choose to serve him.
The week started off a little rocky. We have been having a really difficult time in finding new investigators. Tons of people are lettings us into their houses but everyone says, "I don´t want to make any commitments until January. Come back then." This seems to a general problem here in São Paulo this time of year because all of the missionarys have been telling us the same thing. So what did we do? Well our new amazing district leader Elder N. Alves suggested that we have a district fast from Friday to Saturday. I woke up Saturday morning with the most amazing feelings. the Holy Ghost just kept telling me over and over again that everything was going to work out and was going to be OK.
We finished our fast at lunch then went out to work and knock doors. The first house we knocked after lunch was a family that let us in and accepted the message. At the end of the lesson we marked them for baptism on the 31st of December.
Saturday night was amazing too because it was the baptism of Vitor! It was during the ward Christmas pary so almost the whole ward was there watching. We watched the DVD 'Mundo Feliz' as part of the service and everyone was feeling the spirit then Elder Christensen gave an amazing message about giving our hearts to God this Christmas. I baptized Vitor (the water heater is still broken so it was really cold). And his parents were both really touched. They pretty much told us that their interest in the Church would depend on their experience at the baptism and the party so it was a blessing that everything worked out. After the baptism it was time to eat! Every woman in the ward had to bring a dessert and there was a table the length of the cultural hall full of delicious sweets. The Bishop got in gear and sat and talked with Vitor´s parents for most of the time and by the end he told us that he has already started to set goals with them to get married and baptized too!
Sunday: more blessings! As we were walking out of church a young woman in the ward came running after us and told us "Elder, you guys need to baptize my little brother!" His name is Lucas and when we went to visit the family they told us that the members who are inactive and coming back and that Lucas needed to be baptized as soon as possible. We were like "How about Saturday?" and they all agreed it would be the best day because of the busy holidays. It´s really funny because the first time we met him he was eight-years-old and we told him to get baptized and they said it didn´t really come to their heads until he turned nine just a few weeks ago! So that was a blessing that fell straight out of heaven into our laps.
Overall, this week was a testimony builder of the power of prayer and how the Lord does most of the work. It´s amazing to realize how little of it is actually you and how much you need to depend on God to help you. Humility is the key to success as far as I am concerned. I love this work so much and they joy that you feel on your mission is more real than anything else.
Elder Taggart
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