Sunday, May 5, 2013

27 March 2013 Baptisms


Dear Family and Friends,

I don't have a lot of time to write because we have to catch a bus to Porto Alegre here in a little bit. So yeah my P-Day is today. Yesterday, we had a zone conference in Porto Alegre. President Castro talked a lot about using the LMR system in order to get more references from members. The LMR system is basically us missionaries teaching members how to talk/share the gospel with friends and family. There has been a lot of good results from using more LMR´s. Generally, members are really timid and think that they don't know to talk about gospel principles with others. So we make a list with them of all the of people they know that would maybe have an interest in hearing our message, and we practice how they could approach them with the gospel. Then we make goals and follow up. President and others missionaries say that this is a very effective way in getting references and produces a lot more baptisms. Sounds a lot better than knocking on doors to me. 



Later, all the missionaries got to go eat at this really fancy Churrascaria in the middle of the city. It was funny because we were all walking over to the restaurant and it started to rain hard, like almost torrential rain. We all arrived totally drenched and all these rich people were staring at us as we all took our seats. Needless to say we made a big mess. The food was outstanding, but reminded me how fat I am right now. After our other meetings I was super happy to find a letter from Debi that talked about some different exercises that I can do in limited space and in short time. If you guys find some more workouts like this I would be more than happy to try them out. I started working out as soon as we got home late last night.



So if you didn't forget we had some baptisms this past Saturday. J and P were baptized and confirmed. The baptisms went smoothly. Almost the whole branch showed up to watch which really showed some support for these two new members. Elder Weber performed the baptisms in this mini pool that we had to set up in the back room of the chapel. Everyone was packed in tight in order to view the baptisms. After the talk and testimonies of some recent converts we had a lot of food and drinks that some members brought. It was very organized and fun. J and P have totally changed since when we first started teaching them about a month and half ago. It is crazy how the gospel has had such a positive impact on them.
We had 4 other people that were supposed to be baptised too but they fell through. A started smoking again so we had to cancel her baptism, also we thought it would be better if her kids were baptized with her so that they could have some help in their spiritual development. We also found out that J, 15, has addiction to smoking that he wasn't telling us about. Both Elder Weber and I felt that something wasn't right with him and he finally confessed that he has been smoking for 3 years. These people are not ready to be baptized and nor will they be for awhile. It is better that we focus on finding new people that are better prepared and more willing to live the commandments. So far neither of them have shown a real desire to quit living against the teachings of the Gospel of Christ.
To quicky anwser some questions. Yes, its getting colder here. My shoes are holding up well. And the only thing I need from Ouma and Oupa is Jelly Tots and Wine Gums.
Got to go now. Enjoy the photos, I will take more photos at the temple today.

Love Elder Miller

Tchau

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