Elder Spencer Christofferson: Baptism days are the best days!

Davi's Baptism Day

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all had a great week and I can't wait to hear about it. This week for us was fantastic!

Last Monday night we headed over to teach Daví. I can't remembeer if I wrote about him or not already so I will now. Daví is 9 years old, almost 10, and the son of Andreia. Andreia is a member who has recently been coming back to church and she wanted us to come and teach Daví so he could be baptized! He is an awesome kid! He has a way strong testimony already and is just great. The cool thing too is that his dad is not a member but has listened and participated in the lessons throughout the week. Monday night we taught the Restoration and watched the video too. It was so great!

Tuesday night we went to teach Erick. He was hanging out with 2 friends out in front of his house. They were rollerblading and they let us do it too, haha! It has been so long since I did that last!! It was fun though! Then we gathered all of them together and we taught a quick lesson. I hope they can understand really how this gospel is a blessing and really means something to us. After, we all headed over to the church for Ping Pong Night together. It was great and there are always new investigators. By the way, I am getting way better at ping pong so you all better watch out when I get home!!

Wednesday evening we went back to Daví's and taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I realized the importance and sacredness of Christ's baptism during that lesson. We watched the video about it that the Church made and it was crazy how the Spirit just poured into the room. Christ really had no reason to be baptized except to show the path for us and to "fulfill all righteousness." I had always known and preached that but that night for some reason I gained a stronger testimony about it. I love how the Spirit and Heavenly Father work like that. You never know when the Spirit is going to testify of truth but when it does, you just know it. Here is a link to the video if you would like to watch it… https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-024-the-baptism-of-jesus?category=teachings&lang=eng

Later Wednesday night we went to Marina and Hildo's house to teach them. They are the couple we met last week when we were knocking doors. They read all the stuff we left with them which is always the BEST thing to see. When your investigators do the commitments and progress, you have nothing to complain about. We had planned on teaching lesson 3 but somehow got to talking about the Book of Mormon. We had already taught that briefly last time but this time we just talked about it the whole time. It was really cool to see the Spirit guide our lesson. The highlight was at the end. Up until that point the husband, Hildo, or one of us, had prayed at the beginning or end of lessons. At the end of this lesson I asked who Hildo would like to pray and Hildo said, " I think it is Marina's turn." She was very hesitant and didn't really want to do it. I too was nervous because she had talked to us earlier about how she prays to one of the female Saints in her church. Hildo kept insisting she pray so she finally said okay and prayed. She said the most perfect prayer! She prayed to Heavenly Father and ended in the name of Jesus Christ too! It was sooooo cool to see and hear her progress. And she said she felt really good about it too.

Thursday morning we got up at 4 AM!!! Why? Because we had Zone Conference. Since our zone is split up into 3 cities, we met in the middle city which is an hour and 15 minutes-ish by bus for us. We have 6 Americans in the zone; Me, Elder Bair, Elder Pyne, Elder Johnson, Sister Bretzing, and Sister Martins. I met Sister Martins that day for the first time and she LOVES Disney, maybe even more than I do, so she was excited to talk with someone who also understands, haha. It was hilarious The conference was awesome and I learned A LOT about how I can have the Spirit with me more as I teach. I also learned that I need to be better in my planning and also accompany our investigators better as we teach them! President Bangerter was there and I learn so much from him. He is the BEST!! He talked about being bold and humble again and promised it will bring the Spirit into our lessons when we teach. The key to all of our teaching is to have the Spirit to guide us in our teaching and to witness to those we are sharing the Gospel with that it’s true. It was a great reminder to me.

Friday night was really cool too. We had a family night at the Elders Quorum President's house with Wagner and his family. Pretty much the whole lesson was about the Holy Ghost and Baptism which obviously was aimed at Wagner, haha. He once again was feeling timid about being baptized on the 11th. The whole lesson was very spiritual and Elder Bair asked, "So Wagner, when's your baptism going to be?" He smiled and said, "It's close, real close." So it wasn't this week but this next week or the one after we WILL baptize this him. He’s scared and we just need to help him overcome his doubts. Patience is a virtue, right?!

Saturday was fantastic! Daví was baptized! It was so cool. We got there early to make sure everything was all ready and for Elder Araújo, the District Leader, to interview Daví. It was really awesome because afterwards Elder Araújo said, "That kid is awesome. He is going to be an AMAZING missionary." I loved seeing Andreia, Daví's mom, so happy! It was cool too because after I went and sat next to her and said, "Only one more to go." meaning her husband who isn't a member. He was at the baptism and liked it a lot too! Baptism days are the best days!

Saturday night I had another cool, "this is an awesome mission" moment. We were teaching Erick in front of his house reading scriptures again. We finished and asked him to pray. He did and it was SOOO amazing, heartfelt and sincere. Erick is a goofy, funny dude and sometimes it feels like our visits for him do nothing but that prayer proved otherwise. The rewards of being a missionary are so great!

Sunday was way cool too! I gave another talk, practically on the spot. I didn't even need to write it all out to feel comfortable. I just wrote a few points and then talked about them. It went great. Then, after church we went on divisions with some of the members. Irmão Pedro and I found 3 awesome families! Can’t wait to follow up with them this week! It was a pretty perfect end to a great week!

I literally love it here. Like LOVE it. I love the members, the area, everything! I really don't want to leave. I hope President leaves me here for one more transfer. The members here are loving us, we are loving them and it is just amazing. It helps to have the member’s support! President Elidio, the branch president, called President Bangerter the other day saying he loves us and doesn't want us taken out! I hope it works but in the end it is all up to the Lord.

Well that is it folks! I love you guys, I love my mission and I love this gospel! Have a great week!

Com amor,