Baptizing Carlos

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This past Saturday, I was able to baptize Carlos! It was such a cool experience that i really had no idea what to expect from. my companion decided to tell me an hour before the baptism that i would be doing it haha. I freaked out a little bit cause i needed to memorize what to say and get Carlos´ full name right. But everything ended up going super well and we had lots of support from the ward for him. he seemed pretty happy and I'm hoping we can continue to help strengthen him in the gospel. we have an investigator that has also accepted a baptismal date for this Saturday! her name is Rafaela and at church this week i could just tell how interested she was in trying to learn as much as possible. shes actually pregnant right now, but it would be so cool if everything works out and her baby boy could be raised in the church. 

The funniest thing that happened this week was in the middle of church this older (slightly crazy) lady came up to me and my companion. She looks at my companion and says (in portuguese) "you speak portuguese very well" then she looks at me and just says "you...no" then she throws this portuguese language book on my lap. Haha me and my comp just started dying. It was a confidence booster for sure lol. Its all good though I felt a good improvement in my language this week. I'm reassured by the Americans every week that I'm in the same place they were when they first arrived in Brazil. 

This week I really tried to just be happy with whatever the mission threw at me. God gave us our agency and wants us to be happy on this earth! we face many trials each day that can affect how we look at things but this week i made a change to choose happiness and smile at the trials. because i know in the end they will only make me stronger. God gives us trials for us to grow and humble ourselves! I'm truly loving it in Brazil and am happy most of the time anyway with these awesome people i get to teach and the experiences i can have. 

Thanks for all the birthday wishes this week, your emails mean so much! I will make sure to treat myself to something really good on Friday!

pics- my aunt Brooke happened to send a pic of my baptism this week and i had to share because i was able to baptize someone else this week so awesome!, 2 pics with Carlos (i couldn't wait to show y'all the afro), and on a roof on a beautiful day in sao paulo.




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