Ware, Josh P

Quick update for yall... Just started my last transfer on Thursday. My new companion is Elder Bennie from Georgia. He's been on the mission for about 10 months, so he kinda already knows what he's doing. We made some big goals for this last transfer, and we're praying hard that we can hit those goals. Emilly was baptized on Saturday! It was a super spiritual experience, and she even asked to bare her testimony after her baptism. She is going to be a big help to this ward, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we had to teach her! My toes are doing well and the tan lines on my feet are crazy. Please pray for Bruno, Simone, Camila, Stephany, Kainara and Larissa! Love you guys! Thank you all so much! Elder Ware

Another week down, and I'm exhausted. We just finished up our traditional Brazilian vs American soccer game, and we took a devastating loss. My toes are almost 100% better, which is literally a miracle. And my last transfer starts on Thursday, so I'm looking to end strong (and healthy).  We are currently in São João season here in Brazil. Basically what it is is a month-long holiday where they sing, dance and eat corn. This week we had our ward São João party, and it was super fun! We had a band there playing some traditional Brazilian music, and we had a ton of friends in teaching show up! I was lowkey fighting the urge to dance. We also had Zone Conference this week, and it went super well. It was focused on inviting and baptizing converts. It was super nice to see everyone!  The work is moving here in Bela Vista! We are finding so many inactive families who want to come back to church! The Lord is blessing us so much and helping us find His elect! I really hope that I can s...

Okay yeah, so there really is opposition in all things. This week, Satan was working hard against our friends and even our members. Not gonna lie, I was losing a ton of faith. But in the end, we stomped on his face and baptized some of our friends! First things first, these Brazilians are convinced that rain brings all sorts of sicknesses and diseases, and they will never walk in the rain. So when it rained Sunday morning, like no one showed up to church. The attendence took a hit, and we had a family of investigators who turned around and walked home when it started raining. Please pray that the sun comes out next Sunday.  We had a couple of baptismal dates fall through this week, because of all sorts of things. One of our members told something to another family of investigators, and now the mom doesn't want to talk to us anymore. I don't even know what to do anymore.  Another one of our baptisms fell through this Saturday, because it turns out that this lady was already bap...

Today was a very special week. We hit two great milestones. I'm so grateful to be a missionary!  The first milestone that we hit was the baptism of Evillyn! She is the daughter of a family that was truly the answer to our and the ward's prayers. Since we met her, she hasn't missed a day of seminary and literally reads the scriptures more than I do. The ward has been waiting super long for a baptism, so it's safe to say that they were happy! Literally the whole ward showed up to support, and it was probably the most special baptismal ceremony that I've participated in. The second milestone that we hit was yesterday. The area seventy gave us three months raise the weekly attendance to 100. Well, after much faith, prayer, fasting, and some work, we had 109 people at church yesterday. The ward members were baring their testimonies in tears, thanking everyone for showing up. It was so crazy to see how the Lord help bring back so many inactive members! I was lowkey gettin...