To start off I will tell you about 3 friends, Paulo, Pedro, and Valdemar. There are all 17 years old and have been coming to church together for the past little while, but they had never really sat with the missionaries. They had some friends at church so they went. But last Sunday my companion and I asked if it would be cool if we met with them and started teaching them some of the basics of the Gospel. We invited them to baptism, and they said they have been waiting for an invite and that it is what they have all wanted. These kids are STUDS! They are so willing to do what is right and they are trying super hard to be their best. These kids are going to be stellar missionaries. They are all going to be baptized this coming Saturday and they could not be happier. Paulo and Valdemar´s families are supportive but unfortunately Pedro´s family isn´t quite getting the picture. Since they are all minors it is neccessary to get the permission of their parents and unfortunately we´re having some troubles with Pedro´s mom... He asked if we would come and talk with her and we obviously accepted. On Saturday night we sat down with her and probably had one of the cooler lessons that I have had on my mission. She sat down and the first thing she said was that, "My son will not be baptized again! I baptized him when he was a baby and that is good enough! You are welcome to sit with him and teach him, but he will not be baptized again!" Wo... We knew that it was going to be a fun conversaition... haha. We decided to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how Faith and Repentance are 2 of the preliminary steps. I honestly didn´t have to much faith that this lady´s mind would be changed, but we trusted in the spirit and hoped for the best. We talked about the importance of agency in decisions, especially with big decisions like baptism. She accepted the fact that he didn´t really have the choice. At the end I boldly asked her if she would let her son follow what he knows is right and be baptized. And basically she sat in the back of her chair and said, "well, he´s a big boy now. he can make his own decisions. If this is what he wants to do then he can do it." WOOT! It was an incredibly lesson, that was completely guided by the spirit. What would we do with out the spirit in this work? Probably not have a whole lot of success. Sadly Pedro is still kinda in a tough spot, she´ll let him be baptized but she refuses to sign the paper giving him permission. "I´ll be condemned if I sign that paper." We would just have his dad sign it but unfortunately he lives 6 hours away... It might come down to him going there for the signiture but for now we´re just praying that his mom´s heart will be softened so he can be baptized with his buddies. Pray for him!
This week we also had our first mission conference as a mission! It was awesome! President and Sister Merrill are such incredible people that were without a doubt sent here for a reason. They are perfect for us and for the Angolan people. We are all so excited!
It was a great week! I am loving life! There are some really good things in the works in our area. We should have 3 or so more baptisms at the end of the month. Good stuff! God is good!
I hope you are all having a great summer! I sure am! Thanks for your love and support!
Love,
Elder Hyde
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