Here is a picture that I---- requested we take at church on Sunday. I---- is a man we met while doing contacts in our area. He is a member but hasn't been active for years. But he wanted us to teach his son and his son's girlfriend. V----- and A-- are the two at his side. They are preparing for baptism, and we were so happy to see them at church finally. We know that they have great potential, and I---- can return to full activity in the church, and be a huge blessing in this ward.
Here are some pics of what happened on my birthday. When I woke up Elder A. Ferreira had made a birthday shrine. I thought that was pretty cool. We had made a cake, and he put sweetened condensed milk and chocolate syrup in it. That was a pretty good surprise. In the office Sister Houseman bought some little pies and pastries for everyone, and before the new missionary follow-up training, they all sang Happy Birthday. It was a great birthday!
My birthday also included a meal at a Churrascaria! (like Tucanos) ;) I took some pictures just to make dad's mouth water a little. (And yes I do know that the plates are empty in the second pic. We finished eating it all.)
The week after my birthday we spent most of the time on the road with President and Sister Houseman. We traveled through the interior or our mission, and we did inspections in 21 apartments. It was three days of travel. And it was a great experience and opportunity to get to know lots of the mission. We had many experiences that cannot be summed up in one email. Each day had new surprises, challenges, and adventures. It was a great time.
But our miracle is that with all the time we spent outside of our area, the Lord blessed and protected, and guided our investigators. B---- and L---- had baptismal dates marked, and with the help of the Lord, and their own desires for righteousness they were able to continue preparing and to be baptized. Its incredible how the lord is mindful of all of his children and has the best in mind for all of them.
This past week was back to normal duties and working with our investigators. Probably the scariest thing was that the Houseman kids have been in the U.S. visiting family and they returned this week. But it was not certain that their daughter had the proper paperwork to get back in to the country. Her visa was about to expire when she left on the trip. So being my responsibility, I was particularly nervous. I had consulted with a couple of lawyers at the Area office for a work around and followed their instructions closely (what original documents and copied documents she needed) so I felt we had things in order until I spoke to another person who said that that was all wrong. But I explained to him the instructions I had and he was still questioning whether or not it would work. I'm happy to report that the Houseman kids are back in Brazil with their parents safe and sound. Most likely due to some divine intervention, but I was relieved it all worked out.
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