EIGHTH AREA: *A light in the darkness

"So everything is great here, well we are not seeing much success, but we are giving our all and we know we are learning and growing so much together each and every day, Elder Sampaio and I. I love him, he is so great and this week we had some great spiritual experiences and lessons. Almost everybody that we have been teaching just doesn't want to progress and it is sad, but we are focusing now on finding new investigators and families and teaching them and to have a new teaching group and so we've just gotta go forward with faith."

"So Tatiane is the closest to being baptized, but we are feeling that the opposition from her fam is taking its toll on her and she might be slipping, we need to talk with her again. She wasnt able to come to church this week and so we will try and pass by there tonight. So ya know that guy, Perseu. We were planning to have his baptism this sat. but we just feel that he really has mental probs and so we will try and get a hold of the Psychiatrist and mark an appointment. Of course he came to church and he just loves us and he is living the commandments, but it is just so hard to teach him cuz he just cant seem to focus on one subject and we cant know his real motive for everything. So yeah, its a long story, but I will leave it at that. So that fam we were teaching just cant seem to accept everything and so we stopped teaching them as of yesterday and if they want to they will come to church, it is a long story too and sad really, but its part of the work and we have to just stay happy and keep a good attitude."

"We met a young kid who was baptized a few months back and he was the only one baptized in his fam and we marked to pass by and teach him and try and meet his parents and get to know them and so we passed one afternoon this last week, it was just this last saturday and he accepted us in his house and he never wanted to learn anything with the other missionaries, but he accepted a message and Elder Sampaio just left a message real quick, a scripture and he ended and I felt that he was ready to hear the message of the restoration and so we started teaching and he had never been taught before and from the very beginning I could feel the spirit so strong that I was tingling from my feet to my head and we taught together and testified of the 1st vision and I felt the spirit the strongest during that and we gave him his own BOM and he had never even looked at it, just heard of it and he thanked us and we could see that he was touched and felt something different and felt the spirit so we asked him if he felt somethin and he said he that it was the best moment he had had in the last few months! It was incredible and we testified of the spirit and the reality of him and the blessings of the gospel for his family and we ended with a hymn and he was almost in tears and he just thanked us from the bottom of his heart and we prayed and left and marked to come back this week and he wasnt able to go to church yesterday, but he said for sure he will this week. So it was such a special experience for us and helped us with everything and to animate us and to strengthen our testimonies that much more."