Well! This week was great! And Guess what? I am no longer a greenie! Training is over!
Hello World!
Elder Yost checking in and well I heard the news about the elections and I wont make any comments because I don’t have time lol!
Today will be my last P-day in Cascatinha, because I am being transferred to Jardim America! And Like all missionaries say it is difficult to leave an area, especially if it is your first area. But this week I had some great experiences. First off, Elder Vieira and I really started to get along and have been working really hard to be the best missionaries that we can be to have baptisms. We talked with everyone and started to see progress with our investigators, and the highlight of the week was our lesson with Jacques on Saturday.
I was down, a little discouraged, we were working hard, praying hard but we weren’t seeing miracles, and it would be my second transfer without a single baptism. I prayed that the Lord would show us fruits of our labors this transfer. And as he always does, the Lord came through and answered my prayer.
We knocked on Jacques door and he appeared in the doorway with shampoo in his hair (he said that he was getting ready to dye his hair) but he anxiously asked us to enter the house. We started talking and we could see the smile on his face. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when we started to talk about Baptism he said something that I never will forget, he said “I will do anything that I can to be baptized in this church.” He then explained how Claudia was drinking heavily everyday but when we started to visit them she hasn’t had any alcohol! More specifically he said that she has had a great change in her life since she came to church last week. Wow, I felt so happy as he sat there telling us about the miracles he has seen over the past few weeks. We challenged him to be baptized the 18th and he accepted! At the end of the visit we asked him to pray with us and he said he didn’t know how, but after we explained a little more about prayer he offered the most sincere prayer that I have heard in a long time. He looked up and said “How was it?” I wanted to cry I was so happy. I knew that these miracles are the answers of many prayers here in Cascatinha and of you all at home. It is moments like this that give me the courage and energy to keep talking to people, climb one more hill and knock on one more door.
Jacques will be baptized next week, I wish I could be there to see this great step in his life, but the Lord has called me to serve elsewhere. It’s tough to leave Jacques, Claudia, Fernando, Rose, Cristiano, Elder Vieira, and all of the people who have touched my life here in Cascatinha, but I know that the Lord is working miracles that at times we don’t even see. We had no Idea what was happening with Claudia until Jacques told us, but it was evident that the Lord was working in the vineyard with us and taking care of that family when we weren’t there.
This week I have been reading a lot in the Scriptures and learning how much we need to trust in the lord like it says in Proverbs:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
This is something that I am learning and that I have learned in Cascatinha, the Lord is at times the only person that we can trust, the only thing that we can put our money on because when he makes a promise, he is bound to keep it. I know that He lives; we need to trust Him and follow Him. Trust that He knows and loves you, and trust that His commandments will always bring happiness.
He Lives, and as a Representativeof Jesus Christ, I bear testimony of his Divine love for all of His children, in the US, in Cascatinha and in Jardím America!
Until Next week!
Elder Yost
Note: Jardim America (suburb of Rio de Janeiro)
Elder Topper Yost 