Elder Steven James Braun: Atanagildo plus Crianças!

Oi Mae e família!

Another great week for me here, certainly far different than ever before! I have not gotten your package yet that you sent to me in the MTC. Elder Grow was telling me that the same thing happened to him when he was there. His family sent him a package after he had left. I guess it sat there for a month, until they sent it back the his family. So if the same thing happens, it´ll probably end up going back home soon. Which is so tough for me to accept because I could really use a package or something like that, but it´s totally up to you if you want to recreate it. I did, however get a letter from Natalie!!! It said that she wrote it on August 22nd, but I didn´t receive it until September 17th. Goodness! Mail is lame sometimes, but I still love hearing from people. It was a really nice letter and I loved hearing from her. I´ll plan on writting her one today during my free time, so let her know to expect that from me. Although it might be a while until she receives it :/

As I said last week, I was able to baptize Atanagildo yesterday! (that´s his full name). It was a super spiritual experience for me and helped me realize my purpose here as a missionary. I love seeing the joy that this gospel brings into the lives of our investigators and their families. Atanagildo has many family members who are members of the church, so they were all able to attend the baptism too, which was truly marvelous.

One family that we´ve been teaching has been progressing tons. Their names are Lú and Valdiné (the parents) with three sons named Mateus, Luau, and Miguel (15, 12, 9). We met Lú about 4 weeks ago when we were trying to find a certain street. She was at a bar drinking, smoking, and watching a brazillian soap opera. We gave her a brief description about the plan of salvation, and she invited us to visit her and her family. We´ve taught them three times now and invited them to be baptized. Since the parents aren´t legally married yet, they can´t do so until that happens, but everyone (including their children) accepted! They´ve already been able to attend church 2 times and they love it! They were also able to attend the baptism we had for Atanagildo, which I think was a great spiritual experience for them,. Their children are planning on being baptized this sunday, the 29th!!! It has truly been a miracle and blessing for Elder Grow and I.

As far as other goofy news goes. We ran into a drunk guy the other day who knows English.... The first native Ive met here, and he could speak ENGLISH. It was both cool and kind of scary. He laughed tons and said he loved me and wanted to give Elder Grow and I money. Super weird, but kinda cool too.

I love you all! Keep me in your prayers, the language is still pretty tough and I have much more room for improvement. God loves each and everyone of his children. Obra missionária é o melhor! (Missionary Work is the best!)

Love,

Elder Braun