WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hey family!
Crazy week. Great week! It was fuuuuullll of running around and lots of teaching and commitments, but it ended well, and ended in white.
G_____ accepted the Lord's invitation to be baptized! It was such a special day for him. He has been in Brazil for almost 2 years, and it has a been a huge struggle for him (having to learn a new language, find work, leave his family and friends and culture, and on top of that make enough money to live here and to send back home. It's complicated!). He is SO funny! Even with all of the stressful things in his life, he keeps a smile on his face, and tries to do what is right. He readily accepted all of our messages, the Book of Mormon (he was so excited that the church has an app in his native language with the scriptures!), and finally, baptism.
It was a bumpy journey though... haha always, ALWAYS when someone accepts baptism, things start to happen... People appear out of nowhere trying to deter them from being baptized! Haha and it wasn't just once that this happened with G______ this week... We were teaching him in his tiiiiiiiny little dorm (it's not even a house, just a cement room with a window and a door) when out of nowhere appeared some Haitian Pastor from some obscure church who tried to Bible Bash with us.... haha thankfully we shut him up with a LOT of scriptures and testimonies and once we re-assured him that we weren't Jehovah's witnesses... haha Later the same week, 4 other friends showed up during a lesson and started to ask ridiculous questions to throw G____ off.. but.. it all worked out. G_____ stayed true to his commitment with the Lord, and he'll surely be blessed!
This week, I've started to read the Book of Mormon from the begining again, but this time, much slower, making notes. I just want to share a quick scripture that always hits me when I read in 1 Nephi 8 about Lehi's dream. Verse 10 reads:
"...he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."
There were many groups of people who either made it to the tree, or didn't, but this last group, that "continually held fast to the rod" then "fell down" (exhausted from the journey's battles - the daily battles of faith we face as disciples of Christ) and partook of the fruit of the tree, even eternal life. It is my goal to be part of this last group - the group that never lets go of the rod; the group that isn't ashamed of the Gospel; the group that achieves the best of all gifts, eternal life.
I am soooo thankful for the simple path Heavenly Father has paved for us to find happiness here on Earth, and to one day return and live with Him and our families for eternity. The gospel ROCKS!
Love you all! See you in 4 weeks!
Love,
Jason
Pictures!
- G____ getting bapped
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