Hello everyone! this week was
awesome!
We had the wedding and baptisms
of Rosângela and Zeca (José). It seriously was amazing. I don’t think that I
have worked so hard for a baptism on my mission than these. Every single thing
that could´ve gone wrong, went wrong. But it all came together in the end.
First of all I would like to tell
you guys a little bit more about Rosângela and Zeca and their conversion. We
encountered Rosângela sitting on the side of the road in front of her house. We
contacted her. We taught her the same minute and she loved it. Rosângela and
Zeca are probably the poorest people that I have baptized on my mission. They
are also probably the most converted and changed investigators that I have baptized on
my mission. Rosângela got a testimony of the true Church very quickly. She
loves to read. When we gave her the Book of Mormon, she got to Jacob in like
less than two weeks. She and Zeca weren't married, but they decided to get married.
We started the process of the
wedding at the cartório. There was a problem with the proof of residence. We
got the proof of residence and then there was a problem with the birth
certificates. We fixed that and then there was a problem with the date of the
wedding. We got that fixed and brought it back. This was like a week of issues.
Finally arrived the day before
the wedding. (Friday) We went to pick up the documents from the cartório to
have the wedding. When we got there, there was another problem with the birth
certificate. So we had to bring the certificate to Rosângela. She needed to
bring that to Afogados. A different city, kinda close to us. A member had to
take her there because she doesn't have money for the bus. And she twisted her
ankle last Sunday coming home from a church activity because she fainted (due
to lack of food, because they don't have money to buy food) and then fell. But
it went alright and Saturday morning we got the documents.
Saturday night there was a
miscommunication of what time the wedding would be. We went running in the rain
to Rosângela and Zeca's house and then to members looking for rides for them.
Finally everyone arrived and the wedding started. The wedding went super well!
I played piano, except the only non-church music I can remember is
"Dreaming with a broken heart" and "Someone like you,"
so that's what I played.
Right after the wedding, we had
the baptism. I baptized Rosângela and Elder Omar baptized Zeca. They were
confirmed on Sunday. They have changed so much. I honestly almost can't believe
it. I have learned so much about faith and about trusting in the Lord. The enemy
tried to stop this wedding and these baptisms in so many different ways. But we
trusted in Heavenly Father, even if we didn't know exactly how things would
work out all right. But they did. I know that Satan really didn't want this
baptism to happen, because Rosângela is like a naturally born missionary. She
has already helped 5 other people come to church and she has another 3
referrals for us. She is awesome. She is so converted. She told us that she has
been waiting 24 years to be baptized. She has been searching for the truth. She
has visited and participated in 17 different churches before the true Church of
Jesus Christ, and said that she had always felt like something was missing.
I love my Savior so much. I am so
grateful that I had and have the opportunity to see the gospel change lives in
so many ways. I know that the Atonement is real and that repentance is
sometimes hard and painful, but brings such sweet joy and peace. I love this
church. I know that it is true.
Elder Waters
