September 27, 2010

Oi Família!
Well, what a great week it was this week! We have been teaching this 16 year-old kid named David and he was baptized this Sunday. He is a really special kid and all through our visits with him, he accepted all of the commandments with an open heart and tried his best to fulfill our commitments we left for him. One of those commitments was to stop drinking coffee and obey the Word of Wisdom. He said that he has been drinking coffee since he was way little, but he stopped that very day and never went back. He´s been going to our English Class that we teach here in the ward and he has already made a lot of friends with some recent converts and members. At his baptism, I had the opportunity to baptize him, and after I said the prayer and baptized him, he came out of the water and said, "Ahh... Born again!" It was really funny and everyone was laughing in the room. The kid knows how to keep the commandments! We went to his house later that night and I asked him what his plans were for the future, and he said, "To be an Elder." I love this Gospel so much! I love what it does and I love the way that it touches the hearts of the people. I´m telling you, missionary work is addicting! Even with recent converts, they can see how important this work is. I know that Brazil is a very high baptizing area, but if I baptize the least amount of people in the history of this mission, but all of them stay firm and/or serve a mission, I will feel like I have done my part for the Lord. So far, all three of my converts have told me that they want to serve a mission and my first one will be leaving for his mission by the end of my mission! I love this work!!!
Well, to give an update on how I´m doing with the language, I am fairly confident in my knowledge of the language right now. Elder Roblyer and I only speak in Portugese and it is helping me out more than I can recognize. I know that it is only because of the help of the Holy Ghost that I am learning so well, and that is something that I will remember for my entire life, because the minute that I start to think that I am doing this with my own power, the help will stop coming. To give you bit of taste of how much we are speaking in Portuguese, we tried teaching the message of the Restoration this morning for companion study in English... it was a train wreck for me. The way I used to talk in English is being transformed into Portuglish. The phonecall for Christmas will be really interesting haha.
Well, that is all for this week! I am having a blast with my companion! We are doing a lot to try to strengthen this area and we are having a lot of fun at the same time! I love this Church and I love who I represent... My Savior. Right now, I have no other desire other than find more people and teach them. This is absolutely a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve a mission of the Lord. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Clark