Bela Vista = Nice View

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 baptized hahaha. She literally doesn't remember anything and was surprised when we told her that her membership record was found. She said, "well I guess I'm already saved then".

But through it all, we were still able to have the baptisms of our three friends. 

- Cauê has been frequenting church for two years and was touched by the hand of the Lord in making his decision to be baptized. He will be a powerful member of Christ’s church, and an influential factor in Bela Vista's (our ward's) growth.

- We were led to Raony by an angry man who did want anything to do with Christ's church but guided us to the door of Raony's father, who is inactive and was ministered several times by the missionaries. Raony immediately showed an interest to be baptized and clean of his sins. His father and Grandmother played pivotal roles in his baptism, and the Lord's hand guided Raony to the waters of baptism.

- João is the brother of a member, but never really showed interest in going to church. This was until we invited him to pray about if this is the true church. He then had a dream that night that we was going to church with the missionaries, and this sprouted his desire to be baptized!

Through the thick and thin in Bela Vista, the Lord is making His hand shown!

I'm going to play a ton of soccer today, so please pray for my toes. Also pray for João, Emilly, Célia, Carmelita, Gustavo, Gabriel, and Graça! I love you guys and hope that you all have the best week!

Elder Ware