I am so grateful that I have been part of the process

Excerpts of João email to the family on July 26, 2010

Let me give you a quick update on the work. The trio is no longer...And so Elder Kiser and I are back on our own again. It's a good thing. we have a great new Missionary Leader in our ward. He is helping make great changes..."Stir the pot" as he puts it. He has a solid grasp on Preach My Gospel, and knows how to fulfill his calling. Already I can foresee greater success because of him. I especially liked that he has asked the the first order of business is for the ward to pray for the missionaries by name. And so in sacrament meeting members of the ward now are praying for us by name. It is an incredible the change of spirit in the ward already. We have steady weekly splits, and the work is moving forward.

I had a great lesson with Vivian Romain, one my recent-converts who moved in to this ward recently. We talked about receiving the endowment. There was a special spirit in the room, as we testified of the reality of God's Kingdom established here on earth and of the restoration of such keys to bind families together. She understood and is now taking the temple prep class in order to receive her endowments coming up soon in September. I am so grateful that I have been part of the process. 

We also were able to teach Heather our latest baptismal commit this past Sunday. She attended sacrament meeting, but because her children were sick this last week we did not have an interview or finish teaching some important lessons. We will baptize her this next Sunday. We spoke about the atonement and we spoke about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her testimony is growing and at the end of the lesson I felt like some of the missionaries of old, I could perceive the feelings and thoughts Heather was going through, and I knew that she knew. I expressed to her that I knew that she believed in what we teach and that if she allows Jesus Christ into her heart, her life will be full. It brought her to tears, and she was given a portion of Spirit to testify to her again that God is real. This week pray for Heather, that her spirit will be protected from temptation, and that her mind will have the ability to retain what she has previously felt. There would be nothing that I would enjoy more than to see her dressed in white and enter into the waters of baptism this upcoming Sunday.