BOM DIA!
Modi que nhos sta? Ami sta diret, ami sta ama tchea pa papia con nhos. (Creole haha)
What a fantastic week! We have been working harder than ever to find the Lord’s elect and most prepared. We had a great day on Sunday. There were 14 people in church. The same investigators are starting to come every week which is super good. They are all strengthening their testimonies and becoming more like Christ.
We have been teaching one of our most solid investigators Zeze this entire week. The 1st visit he accepted baptism. As we kept talking to him he kept talking about how he is going to need a lot of time to prepare and that he will tell us when he is ready. He is keeping all of the commandments, he has desire to repent, he wants to be baptized, he is incredible, he is fulfilling the requirements for baptism. We kept helping him realize that God had answered his prayer, which he agrees completely. Yesterday, we had the most incredible lesson with him. We taught him about tithing and fast offerings. I testified to him with all of my heart, that the Lord needs him to be a leader. Maio has no members, has no leaders, Zeze cannot wait any longer to be baptized, so he can start leading this group. I challenged him to kneel down with us in that very moment and ask God if he should be baptized, this week on the 7th. He knelt down and offered one of the most sincere prayers I have ever heard in my life. He cried to God and said ''I have made my decision, I will be baptized on the 7th of December, I have made my decision". I couldn’t help but cry inside. So powerful. Yesterday night, Zeze came up to us on the street and he said, ''Elders I have really been thinking and I think that if we make an activity for young people to play soccer for the church, we could help a lot of people come to church''. That is something I never had thought about. Everyone here LOVES soccer more than anything else, what an incredible idea, he is already starting to act as a leader. What a miracle.
This week, 2 members from Praia came to visit. President Leonel Cruz (2nd counselor in the stake) and Brother Pedro Moreno (secretary of the stake). We taught some lessons with them and and had an awesome family night at our investigator Nadia's house. We invited a ton of people. We watched the Restoration on a giant screen TV, then we played some games and ate some bread (Nadia's dad is a baker). It was a huge success.
We have a Christmas Party coming up this week in Praia, we are going to go visit there for a few days. Also, transfers is already next week, it came up SO fast. I am almost POSITIVE that Elder Christensen and I are staying here, we only have 1 transfer here and still so much work to do!
We are planning Zeze, Nadia and Luizina for baptism this week. They will be the first baptisms of Maio. It has been a lot harder than we thought to find solid people to baptize. We will be talking and teaching them every day this week to make sure they are strong and do not fall into any temptation. The Lord is merciful. This should be a magnificent week.
God has a plan for us. We are so weak on our own; the Lord has truly shown me my weaknesses out here. It is only be Christ and His grace that we can be strengthened. His grace is always enough, for a member to become more of a saint or even for the vilest of sinners. I am happy to be here giving my life to spread the ''Good News''. I will never forget what I have experienced here.
Love,
Elder Rice