Semana Dificil

This week was pretty crazy.  Saturday we had the baptism of M------.  He is 11 years old, and he is pretty cool.  He went to church on his own the last few weeks. We showed up at his house, and he had already left for church. So it is pretty cool to see a young man that's so responsible.  He doesn't come from the greatest family situation.  His mom is raising them alone, which is hard. But we are starting to teach her too.  So we hope that we can help this family to continue growing together. We got to the baptismal service early, and he wanted to learn a bit about how to play the piano, so I was teaching him a few little tunes that are easy to play, like Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater.

We also got to go to the temple this week, which was a really nice experience.  We had a little reunion in President's house, and we sang a song as a district (that you guys probably saw on Facebook.  We ate Burger King which was cool too. We got there a little early, and we were sitting on a couch, so I don't know why we weren't appearing in any still photos. It was a night reunion, and President used examples in Lucas 1 and Mateus 1 to show examples of people that heard of Christ. He asked "how did they know about Christ?  What did they do when they heard?  And what did they do after they saw?"  So it was pretty cool to see what we need to do as members after we gain our testimony of Christ. We need to share it, so get out and share your testimony of Christ this Christmas season.

At church yesterday I got a pretty cool surprise.  E------, our recent convert from Paulista came to visit with his family.  He told me that he went to the temple on Saturday, and they were able to baptize some family names. He also told me that he was owing me a pizza (which i didn't remember).  And he gave me a pair of socks that says "all  you need is pizza".  It was really nice to see him again, and to know that he is doing well.

It was a really tough week though this week.  It's really hot right now and I'm drinking water like a camel. We had lots of rejections, and it felt like everyone that we talk to was calling us liars or false. But as I was writing this email, I can see how even though we had many difficulties, the Lord blessed me so much throughout this week. Maybe the work was tough, and the Lord won't make the work completely easy, but he threw in some surprises and special experiences to lighten the burden. God really loves all of us, and he is always looking out for us.

I hope you all have a great week this week, and a good preparation for Christmas.

Love,
Elder Nielson