Elder Lofton Q Bean : Batismo

Boa Tarde do Brasil!!

Today was transfers but none of us four got transferred!!!! We are all stoked. Me and Tippetts will be together until the end of March so we are stoked. Both Reis and Sowards stayed also. This transfer will be awesome!! :) Our zone is doing awesome and we have a ton of fun while also workin our butts off. I love serving here in Gama. The members are great, supportive and really want to help in missionary work. Gama has the richer parts, and also has the poor parts with houses made of mud and bricks. I love being in Gama!! Stoked I will probably be here until May or June.

The highlight of the week was the baptism we had this week for Sarah!!! yeahhhhhhhhhhh. Foi muito muito bom. Nossa foi legal demais. The Spirit was so strong and there was a ton of family and friends that came to support Sarah. The sister missionaries in Gama Central had a mom and her son getting baptised also so there was a ton of people to see the three of them get baptised. Singing the opening song, I was sitting by Sarah and she seemed really uneasy. She was nervous. But as she was coming into the water she started to get emotional and she was beaming cause she was so happy. It was such an incredible experience getting to baptism her. I felt so happy and the Spirit was so strong. I didn’t want to leave the baptism font cause I felt so good! ha. It was like a glimpse of Heaven for a second. Afterwards I asked her how she felt and she couldn’t use words to describe how amazing she felt. She was crying at the end while everyone was giving her hugs and the Spirit was just so strong their. It really strengthened my testimony. It made me so happy to see her happy and having been baptised. She has so many big things ahead of her in life. She told me again while we were singing the closing song that she really wants to serve a mission and help others have this happiness that she has. I was like wowww this is so awesome!! gosh I love being a missionary!!! haha. Her Uncle, Irmão Hélio é O CARA. haha He is THE guy. He is awesome! He has helped so much with us teaching his nieces. He is so involved and his testimony that he shares when we teach with him is so powerful and has warmed the hearts of his family members. He has had several people in his family or friends that have been baptised because he wasn’t afraid to introduce it to them. He is a stud!

Teaching Sarah with Tippetts has been an amazing experience. That just makes seeing her getting baptised that much sweeter and knowing this isn’t the end of her journey, it is only the beginning!! I personally grew closer to my Heavenly Father during the times we were teaching her and the experiences we had. I know He loves me and He loves all of us. We are all His children! I am so grateful that throughout my mission I have been able to grow closer to my Heavenly Father then I ever was before and really go to Him in prayer when I am in need. The scriptures have meant more to me than ever. I'll be honest, I didn’t read my scriptures a lot by myself before the mission. But I have really grown to love them and so grateful for the Heroes and examples that are throughout them. I love the Book of Mormon!! I know it is the word of God! I know that God answers prayers. There are times when my faith is weak, but Heavenly Father is there and strengthens me and builds me up every time. He literally is there for us. We are never alone. Feeling God´s love for another person is one of the most humbling experiences to me. I am so grateful to be out here on a mission.

This week we started teaching Laurena, Ercilia, and Gabriel!! Tippetts had taught them about 2 months ago twice before the went to Gois to visit their parents. They stay here in Gama since they are studying in college in Brasilia. They are way awesome!!!! They are so cool. We feel really strongly that they will get baptised. There is a special spirit that is there every time we teach them. Our lesson this week with Nathalia went really well!! She had a lot of questions for us but we were able to answer them all so she could understand. The only problem is that she is really nervous about going to church without her cousin. So she comes to the English class every Wednesday night but hasn't come on Sunday yet. I promised her that if she came to ours in the morning on Sunday then we would go visit hers at night. Hopefully she can get to come this week.

I miss and love y’all so much!! You are always in my prayers everyday. The Lord is watching over me and I know he is watching over y’all as well :). I am so grateful to give the Lord my all for these two years in Brasil!!

Eu amo vocês!!! Muito obrigado por tudo.

tchau,

Elder Bean!!