Last Meeting with President Ribeiro

Baptismal meeting Saturday

Baptisms Saturday

Elder Shepherd with President and Sister Ribeiro

How was your week?

The week was good though cuz of the Baptisms!

Did the Young Women get baptized this week?

2 of them yes! Next Friday 2 more will be baptized! 

How cold is it there now?

It´s like 40 degrees F. So not super cold, but with the humidity it makes it a little colder.

Hi Family! 

So obviously the highlight of the week was the baptism, but we did have a great week. We were finally able to teach the family of Claudia and Marko Aurelho on Saturday morning after trying to meet with them all week. They´re such a great family... I lied last week.... they´re not married :( I totally thought they were cuz they´re so formal and proper, and they both wear rings. So I thought they were. That´ll be just one more complication. I feel like it will all workout with them. One of the girls and her little brother will be baptized this Friday. 2 of the girls were baptized this week. I attached some pics to let you see.

The other picture was of our last meeting with President Ribeiro. It was really sad. Sister Ribeiro wrote in my log book for me. It´s going to be really weird. The new President gets here next Tuesday, and he´s immediately going to go around to all of the districts to get to know all of the missionaries. I think the mission slowed down quite a bit recently because of the change. The baptismal numbers have dropped a ton. My companion and I are still going strong though!

 I got my over-bite device put in this week and it is Killing me!!! It´s really painful. The pain has dulled a little now since it´s been a few days. It´s like wearing the head-gear, but permanently. haha. Beauty is pain, right?

So there are some members here, Elaine and Laurindo, they´re from Sao Paulo. We had lunch there yesterday and talked with them a ton. They´ve got a son in the Atlanta, Georgia mission right now. Their daughter lives in salt lake and is married there. They´re going to come pick their son up right when I get home, then go visit their daughter in Salt Lake. I told them we´d go eat with them! They lived in these two cities when dad was on his mission there: Sorocaba and Sao Jose dos Campos. They wanna know if you passed through their cities?? [I worked in both Cities but not sure I know them.] Laurindo got home from his mission right when you got there, so you maybe know them! I don´t know their last name, but they lived there at the time of your mission. 

Angelica and Anderson have set a date to be married and baptized at the end of July. That will be the next transfer, so I´ll hopefully still be here for that. They are already members, and their two kids, Gustavo and Bruna are their kids, they are awesome. Bruna´s already been chosen to give talks in primary haha.

We had a good turnout at the baptism. The ward is really excited about the work still. We´ve been coming up with a lot of creative ideas for the members to help us with references.   We´re finding a lot of success with the young men and women. They´re all excited about seminary, so we invite them to go there with their friends, then we teach them at the chapel afterwards. The youth who are already members are always good about helping us as well.

Next Saturday we have contacting at the park again. We´re going to hook an electric keyboard up to a loud speaker and I´m going to play piano to get people´s attention. President said it was a good idea, because preach my gospel says to use your talents to turn things into teaching opportunities. I´m excited! The mission is passing faster and faster. I hate to even think about coming home. If I could add a 2-year extension onto the mission I would. In the mission you have to live EVERY SINGLE MOMENT, because if you don´t it was a moment too late. I know that the church is true. I am so grateful to have you as a wonderful family. Happy father´s day yesterday dad! A letter will get there eventually haha! I love all of you and I hope you have another incredible week.

Be safe, have fun, and PRAY ALWAYS!

Elder Shepherd