I have little time to write, but I will do my best to tell you all that I want to say. This could possibly be the last email home. Maybe next Monday I will have time, but who knows. If not, we will be seeing each other a week from this Thursday! I am so grateful for all that has happened here on my mission, and for all that is still happening. I can truly see that the Lord is blessing me in this last transfer here on the mission. How I am grateful that I followed my answer and stayed until the end. I passed many difficulties, but now I am seeing many blessings in these last weeks. I have been praying a lot to be able to help many people here in Jardim Maravilha, and to baptize or reactivate at least one person who will continue strong in the church. I have prayed and fasted a lot. Throughout this transfer, we passed some difficulties as we tried to bring people to church and to reactivate. However, in this process, there has been one man who has been showing progress. His name is Hamilton. He is 52 years old and has a wife and two children. We knocked on his door at 8:45 PM as we tried to fill the last few minutes of the day with success. We began teaching him, who is inactive in the church that he attended. We brought him to church a few Sundays ago and he really liked it. He accepted baptism for the 16th of August but he ended up not going to church two Sundays ago, disqualifying him to be baptized on that day. We had interviews with President Cabral this last week, and he told me that I need to show my faith to the Lord, trusting 200%. I decided to do that. We made plans, put them in action, and with much faith we are seeing progress! Last Thursday, we arrived at his home to teach him some other commandments and invite him to be baptized on the 23rd, my last Saturday. As we arrived, he opened the door, obviously very angry, and drunk. He told us that he was leaving. We decided to follow him! We began talking to him, and we managed to bring him to the church where we could talk to him in private. He was very angry about a fight with his family. We sat him down, and I gave him a blessing. I don't think I have ever put so much faith in a blessing as I did that night. As we said Amen, he became very quiet, and we began to teach him about choices and consequences. He began to cry and say many crazy things, but we managed to help him understand that alcohol was the problem. We managed to bring him back home and put him to bed. The next day, we visited him, and taught the Word of Wisdom, and that we would prepare him to change his life. He accepted baptism for the 23rd of August. Miracles are happening here! Yesterday, we also found a man who is 17 years inactive. We talked about the Book of Mormon and prayer, and as he said the closing prayer, the Holy Ghost touched him strongly. He accepted to return to church this coming Sunday.
These miracles happen through our faith. My faith is strong and I am working hard to make sure these miracles continue. I can't stop now! I will continue until the end! I love you all so much. We will be in contact soon! If we don't speak next Monday, I will see you all soon! The church is true!
Sincerely,
Elder Steven Bennett
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