Baptized Amanda and fed Monkeys all in 24 hours!

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Well sooo much happened this week. and lots of reasons for me to be happy. Things are going well and I just felt super glad this week for how things are going on my mission. We baptized Amanda yesterday! So turns out she came to know us from our English class! And she had lots of interesting trials that I really enjoyed helping her with. I feel like we made so much progress with her and I love to see how much she has changed. She truly seems like someone who was prepared for us at this time by the hand of the Lord. 

This week I was also able to return to my stomping grounds (my first area in Freguesia) and do a split. It was the coolest and strangest thing to be back there. I was tried so much in that area and truly feel like I came to know my Savior a little bit better and trust in Him during those 4 months. And turns out the Lord is blessing all my recent converts there! Carlos (my very first baptism) is marrying a returned missionary soon, Elaine is giving freaking lunch to the missionaries (!!), Thainá is preparing for a misison, and our family of Rosana and Edilson are still super super firm and really well integrated with the ward. Sadly they still havent been baptized because the marriage papers they need to finish. But we made goals together to be married and baptized in October and I will be able to be at the baptism now!

So now for the funny part. This week we finally climbed Pico de Jaraguá and were able to see the whole city! The best and craziest part was seeing WILD monkeys and feeding them! They ate bananas literally out of my hands! We found like 15 of them. Childhood dream come true. Ill attatch a ton of pics from this week. 

Last thing I wanted to share was a quote that I recieved today that really hit me hard. I got emotional reading it the first time because I am so grateful for my Savior and for the sacrifice He has done for me. 
“A basketball in my hands is worth about 20$ . A basketball in LeBron James' hand is worth $19 million per yr. It depends on whose hands it’s in. 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands would be barely anything. 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread in our Saviors hands will feed 5000 people until they are full and still leave 12 baskets leftover. Some nails in my hands are worth about 5 cents. Some nails in the saviors hands will provide eternal salvation for each person who has lived on this earth and all of Heavenlys Fathers children. It all depends on whose hands it’s in.”
I know that Jesus Christ lives and guides His church today. I know the great example that He is and I hope I can follow him and be used as a tool in His hand for His other children here in Brazil.

Thank you for your constant support!
Elder G

pics- zone conference, gabriel jesus, 60 PEOPLE in our english class, fam of Rosana and Edilson, baptism, and monkeys!!










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