Olá!

This week went by super fast. We were preparing all week to try to make sure that Sabrina's baptism happened. Everything worked out and she was baptized on Saturday night and confirmed on Sunday. It was such a cool experience. I was able to baptize and confirm her. It is such a great feeling to be able to help with all steps of the process. The Spirit definitely does the heavy lifting in regards to conversion, but I am glad that I could help with finding her, teaching her, inviting her to be baptized, and then eventually baptizing her. To see how much someone changes and grows in such a short amount of time is an absolute miracle. It was an honor to help her and her family and I hope that she will continue to grow in her faith and be a light to all those around her. Baptism is just a step, but it is a big one in regards to the blessings that she and her family will receive.

To prepare for the baptism we had divisions so that the District Leader could do the interview. We also made sure she understood all the lessons and didn't have any questions. We invited people from the ward to the baptism and got some short talks set up. The day of the baptism we cleaned out the baptism font and had to wait a while to fill it up. The water wasn't the warmest, but still, beats getting baptized in a river. Haha. There were not a whole lot of people at the baptism, but it was still super nice. We sang some hymns and the bishop gave a great talk. We then had the baptism which she wanted in English, so my first baptism in Brasil was in English! Haha. It was a little different, but she really wanted to be baptized in English, so it was her choice. My companion translated for her family so they understood, so it was kind of in English and Portuguese. After, a member brought cake and it was like a small little party. The next day I was able to confirm her. It was one of the first blessings I have given in Portuguese also. It was a little hard, but I felt the Spirit and feel like I said things that made sense. We also introduced her to a lot of the people in the ward, so she has a lot of friends and people that helped her here. It truly was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

There was not a whole lot more that happened this week. We are just working every day. It is hot some days and raining other days, but the work always moves forward. We did get our new daily schedule. I haven't taken a long look at it yet, but I the biggest change is that we will be getting up at 7, not 6:30 and will return to our house by 10. I like the new schedule. I will look at it more to know exactly what I should be doing, but it looks good!

I know that this truly is the work of the Lord. So many miracles happened for one person to be baptized, and as I look back on the entire story it is crazy how much the Lord directs our paths. He truly cares about every one of us. He puts us in the direction of His lost sheep and we just need to follow the Spirit to do our part to bring them back into the fold. The worth of souls is truly great in the sight of God. One person is so important to Him. We search for the one that is ready and willing to accept Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that the Lord put Sabrina in our path and that he prepared her to truly accept Jesus Christ and take an amazing step in her life. Thank you all for the prayers and love.

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson