Finding Fortitude in Fortaleza: Missionary Ups and Downs

The ups and downs of Missionary work

Anyways, here's what happened that was annoying this week. One of our investigators V., was keeping all our commitments and even she said that she would be baptized! We were all stoked about her baptism, but the week before, we found out that she is going to be baptized in the Universal Church! Apparently we didn't teach everything well enough....

Also one of our best investigators stopped talking to us. She asked us to not visit her anymore... She was going to be baptized .... We even had marked a date for her baptismal interview, but she changed her mind the next day and told us that she couldn't meet with us anymore....

Enough of the bad stuff. We finally baptized V. ! She had some problems with her parents, because they are devout Catholics, and wouldn't let her leave the 'family church'. However, she turned 18 years old in December and now she decided that it was more important to follow what she knew to be right than to follow in the traditions of her family. She really inspired me because it takes a lot of faith and courage to make that kind of choice.

This is my "mom" in that she fed me lunch EVERY p-day of my time in Aldeota.

We have some other investigators who are really progressing but in particular T. She went to sacrament meeting and was there for V.´s baptism! She made a lot of friends with the ward members, and in particular the bishop's wife, A. We're going visit her again on Tuesday to follow up! Here was a miracle. She has been baptized before in the catholic church, and she told us exactly how everything happened including how much she paid to be baptized (because she was baptized when she was 23). We were teaching about baptism, and as we were explaining what it takes for a baptism to be done correctly (following the example of Jesus Christ, our perfect example), she asked us "so are you telling me that my baptism was not valid?" I hate answering that question! But this time, I had the best answer: "Do you believe that your baptism was valid ?" She thought, and thought, and thought, and then she answered and said, "No, that she didn't feel like it was a real baptism." So now we're showing her the way and helping her along. Really that's what we're trying to do all over the world. We're here as missionaries to help people who want to learn the truth to find it. We can't force it on anyone, and sometimes it gets really frustrating when you know that something is right because you have searched for yourself and found the answer. And we know that the gospel would help someone's life more than anything else in the world, but they just won't take the time to learn and find out for themselves! I know that everything that we teach as missionaries is true. It's not something that can be denied by someone who is sincerely trying to learn about this church, because it is true.

Interesting sight for the week: Trees grow right in the middle of the street.

High Ropes course

We did have some fun on our p-day when we visited a local park. It was early in the morning so I felt that it was safe enough to take some pictures. This part had some high ropes courses, but we didn't go on them because I thought we should ask first if that would be okay, and also because I am pretty sure that the answer to that question is no. We had fun anyway.