Wow, what a week! We got so much good work done and we have been blessed with many miracles here in Itapipoca. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to serve here in this city. On Wednesday morning we were able to go to the marriage of 2 couples! One was a couple that Elder Damo found contacting and the other is from a woman in the branch with her husband who wants to be baptized. That was an amazing experience -- seeing the happiness on their faces as we watched the proceedings. There were lots of family and friends from both families.Later that night, we were able to perform the baptisms of Dhiego and Liliana, the couple that we found and helped get married. They were both very excited to be baptized now that they were keeping all the commandments. They have a daughter who is 4 years old and a son who is almost 1 year old. It has been truly amazing to see the growth of this young family and to see the difference that family prayer and scripture study has made in their lives. I feel so blessed to have been a part of this family.
This Saturday, we had 3 other baptisms - other young men that we had found that we were teaching. Renato, João Pedro, and Renan (from the photo, left to right). They have all been learning and growing so much these past few weeks, and it was such a great experience to help them all get baptized. The missionaries had been working quite some time getting Joao Pedro (JP) ready for baptism, and finally, our leaders allowed us to baptize him. He has a few challenges as well as a growth disorder, but he is a really great young man, full of the light of Christ. He gave me a hug and said that he loved me after his confirmation on Sunday.
Another amazing miracle took place this week as we were knocking on doors. Near the center of the city, I knocked on a door to this woman named Maria. She was just taking care of the house, but she lives pretty far from the center. She said that she had been praying for 3 days for God to send her someone to unite her family a little more. She seemed impressed that God sent someone all the way from the United States to answer her prayer. We have started teaching her family including her husband (Francisco), and her two teenage sons. They all went to church with us on Sunday and accepted baptismal dates. We have been so blessed here in this area.
I played the piano again in church yesterday and right after the sacrament the branch president told me I would need to give a talk in the meeting. I spoke about the importance of love and missionary work and luckily I spoke last so I had at least a few minutes to prepare. I am still teaching my English class here. I taught last week about future tense and names of family members. This week we focused on answering basic questions like "What are you doing?" and "How old are you?" The class continues to grow in numbers and we're helping Itapipoca become bilingual little by little.
I am so happy to be serving here in Itapipoca. With this new transfer, we found out that Elder Damo and I would be spending one more transfer together here in this great city, to see more miracles and to complete the work that is prepared for us here.
I love this work, and our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. Also, a handy scripture that has been helping us quite a bit with all these baptisms, has been 2 Nephi 31. Give it a good read, and you'll understand the importance and purpose of our work.
Elder Perry
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| Two weddings |
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| Elder Perry signing as a witness on the marriage documents |
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| A field ready to harvest or also just helping with weed abatement |
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| Saturday lunch with a great family from the Itapipoca branch |
