Brazil Bound: January 26, 2015- O Templo and a baptism

Hi Family!!

I am great! It was another weeks of ups and downs, miracles and mishaps. Just the missionary life full of lots of opportunities to learn and grow.

First, Anglela was baptized!! It was such a beautiful day! She just glowed. But it was also bitter sweet because Edilson decided that he was not ready to be baptized. I am still not sure, exactly, why, because does not have problems with any of the commandments and I know that he knows this is the right decision for him. We went the baptism in the spirit of fasting and prayer, hoping that someone would say something to touch his heart. President came, actually, and I am certain that his words were inspired...

There is a sister on the mission, Sister Borges whose dad was baptized recently and so they could finally be sealed. So the family came to São Paulo and President gave permission for them to enter in the temple together for this precious day. After wards, Sister Borges got back to work but her family spent the day with President so they went to the baptism! And President invited the dad to speak about his experience. Tearfully, he told about his conversion process and pleaded with Edilson to think seriously about this decision. Then President invited Edilson to say a prayer and offered to ``sin´´ explaining that even though São Paulo is completely out of water, he is willing to come back to Cotia and fill the font one more time in the near future if he recieves a ´´yes.´´

His two sons pleaded with their dad to think seriously about this decision and we sang the EFY medly together. It was an incredible baptism.

So, family, if you could, pretty please, pray for Edilson to have the faith and courage neccessary to accept the invitation. And fast. Because it may be selfish but I just really want to be there...

In other news, remember that wonderful family we found that even knelt to pray and followed along anxiously?! Well they turned cold this week. Real cold. As of now, they are deciding between our church and some other that screams and chants and talks, non stop about money. And want to know the interesting thing? A few weeks ago, before we even found them, Maria had a dream that she was walking, a lone, on a path filled with churches. It was a dark night and she wanted, desperately, to find the right church. She approached the first two and they were both locked and dead bolted. She even saw her friends from the other church but they wouldn´t come to the door. Finally, she walked a little more and found another church. Different from the others... huge and full of light. As she approached, the doors opened. She entered and felt more light and joy than ever before.

She told us that she is only trying to find that church! So we read Lehi´s dream and told her to think about how she feels with us. We talked about the light the gospel brings. We bore our heartfelt testimonies and pleaded with her to think this through. And then Sunday, she did not show up at church. We went to get her and guess what we found... a man laying in her bed. Have I mentioned that free agency makes me crazy? Well it does. The only good thing is, at least maybe I will make smarter choices after metting people that simply don´t understand, try as we may; I guess I am learning a little about How God feels when we make dumb choices.

This week we worked at the temple again and I had a really special moment. We were outside beackoning people to come in when we saw a man with his arms full of gardening items... a rake and such... As he passed the temple he seemed mesmerized. We introduced ourselves and asked if he would like to enter and see the temple grounds. He got super excited and said, absolutely!! Turns out, he is a gardener and for a long time he has been fixated with the temple gardens. Every time he passes he takes pictures from the gates and sends them to all his gardener friends. People who, like him, appreciate a good plant. He entered looking like a child on Christmas morning. He was just giddy!! He proceeded to take pictures of EVERY plant telling us all the names. ALL the names. At the end of the tour he thanked us saying that he loved, loved, loved the visit.

For maybe the first time in my life I recognized the pure beauty that exists in our temples. The gardens are emaculate, full of colors and textures. In every sense they represent the love our Heavenly Father has for us. He loves us so much that he wants our lifes, also to be filled with all the wonderful things life has to offer. In closing I´d like to share one of my favorite quotes of the week...

Temples are an expression of God’s love. He invites us all to come, learn of Him, feel His love, and receive the priesthood ordinances necessary for eternal life with Him. Each covenant is made one by one. Every mighty change of heart matters to the Lord. And yours will make all the difference to you. For as we go to His holy house, we can be “armed with [His] power, … [His] name … upon [us], … [His] glory … round about [us], and [His] angels have charge over [us].”⁵

So go to the temple this week! Maybe for family home evening. I guess it is winter there, but imagine beautiful, emaculate gardens and think of me. And more importantly, think of Heavenly Father. He is pretty great.

Abraços,

Sister Lauren