Great Week!

Well ya'll it was another great week over here in Angola! I'm absolutely loving life as a missionary. The time is flying by so fast... I can't believe we're already halfway through July. Crazy stuff...

So the highlight of the week was definitely the baptism of Paulo and Valdemar. Unfortunately their buddy Pedro still hasn't gotten his mom to sign his form so we're still waiting on him. But hopefully by the end of the month he'll be baptized. It was so awesome to see how excited they were to get baptized. We got to use the baptismal font at our chapel for the first time. Up until now everyone in Luanda has been using the same font but our branch finally got one put in, so now we don't have to drive across the crazy city to watch baptisms. Woot! Paulo and Valdemar are studs. I'm so excited to stay in contact with them throughout the years. They're already excited to get out on missions in a few years. They've already caught the missionary spirit too, a few of there other friends should be baptized here in the coming weeks. 

Yesterday I got to speak in church, it was awesome. It was wierd speaking in a little bit bigger branch. In Lubango there was usually an average of 70 people there and here in our branch of Luanda 2 we usually have about 130. I spoke on missionary work and the importance of diligence. I used a lot of President Monson talk on seeing people as what they can come to be rather than how they are right now. The Gospel changes people. There is no doubt about that. I have gained such a testimony of that since I've been here. People turn to alcohol and drugs when they don't have anything meaningful or fulfilling in their life, but when they learn about the Gospel and the Atonement of our Savior the transformation takes place fairly quickly. It is such a blessing to be able to witness these miracles first hand. 

The work is coming along great! Thanks for all of your prayers and support! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Hyde