Tchau Alegrete! (bye Alegrete!)

1. And that´s a wrap Alegrete!
Well, after 3 beautiful months here in Alegrete,  I've transferred! I was kinda sad to think I`m leaving this city and this ward that I love so much, but the Lord knows better than me! President called me as a zone leader in São Gabriel, so I´m headed out in a couple hours! I´m excited for what the future holds. Alegrete was amazing and we had a lot of success here.

2. Margarida´s baptism
This week we were happy to see Margarida finally get baptized! It was cool to see her progression from when we started teaching her till her baptism! She truly was changed as she applied the Atonement of Christ in her life and started living the principles of the Gospel.

Margarida's baptism

Margarida is a 32 year old single mom. She always thought the
Mormon chapels looked pretty so one day she just showed up and we
started teaching her. 

Well, that´s all we got time for today! I´m so incredibly grateful to be serving my Savior Jesus Christ and help others receive the blessing of the restored gospel.
Elder Rawson

Our last English class.

Helamã and his family-- my favorite family from the ward.
They were super nice to us!!!

Some sick pictures Margarida took of us!

"Great Satisfaction Awaits You . . ."

1. Felipe´s Baptism

This had to be one of the happiest days of my mission! Felipe has been receiving the missionaries and the lessons for 2 and 1/2 years and now he decided to get baptized! It was a special day for him and his family and I was happy to take part! He´s 17 and is thinking about serving a mission next year, which would complete my life goal of having one of my converts go on a mission!

2. The greatest satisfaction of all
Preach My Gospel has an intro from the First Presidency that talks about how there is no greater satisfaction in this life than bringing souls unto Christ! On Sunday when I walked into the chapel and I saw the smiling faces of all our recent converts and members I felt an overwhelming feeling of pure joy and satisfaction! It was the greatest thing ever. I´m grateful to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord. Missions are amazing.

3. D&C Done
This week I finished Doctrine and Covenants and I loved every second of it. It literally contains the doctrine of our salvation and helps explains the covenants that will help us get there. If you haven´t had a chance to read it yet I would suggest it!

Well guys, I´m truly happy. Serving a mission was the best choice I ever made. Love you all!
Elder Rawson

Alma 26:15-16 (don´t miss this one)

Sticky note letter from my family

with some friends at zone conference

More friends at zone conferences

Helping the Bishop build a house

Aline and Daniso threw a mini party for Elder Bagley's b-day on Saturday

Baptism afterparty

Post baptism churrasco!!!!!!!!

funny pics our investigator took this week.
Margarida will be baptized Thursday if all goes as planned!

"C´mon man, this is why I pay tithing!"

1. Isadora´s baptism
This week was amazing! Our little friend Isadora got baptized, she´s the cutest girl ever and her faith in Christ is incredible! There is a lot to learn from the testimony of children.

We invited our investigators to watch the baptism with us, and they all loved it! Margarida was talking to us after and tried to get on the Wifi and noticed that it was down at the moment, and she said "The wifi is down?! C´mon man, this is why I pay tithing!" hahahaha funniest moment ever.

The Baptism

Isadora with her CTR ring I gave her

2. Man I´m old!!!
This week I celebrated my 23rd District meeting as District Leader! I love the chance I've had to give weekly trainings and help the other missionaries reach their potential and overcome hardships. This week I talked about teaching with the Spirit and we did a cool practice where I pretended to be a pastor of another church and they had to find scripture references to back up what they teach! It´s been great.

3. CHUVA (rain)
Man, Brazilian rainstorms are crazy! It dumped for the better part of the week which made things harder for us, but it´s great going to war every day and doing our best to bring the message of the Gospel to every soul! One of our best investigators has a dad who is anti, so he expulsed us from their house and threatened to hurt us if we came back.... LOL. But, Felipe and Margarida are great and the Lord is protecting them as they prepare for their special days so I'm happy as can be:)

love you all!
Elder Rawson

Helaman15:6

our friend Felipe!!!!

Elder Rawson looking fine

When they Finally say YES!

1. A good week on the jobbb
This week was killer! We've been working hard to help our investigators take the next step and follow Jesus´s example and be baptized, and this week we were able to mark 2 baptism dates! Felipe got up at church and bore his testimony and announced that after 2 years of investigating the church he wants to be baptized! Had every Irmã  (sister) in the room crying:')

2. Just get married!
A HUGE problem that we have here in our mission is getting people married. Less than 50% of couples are legally married, they just start living together and say they´re married, so this is a problem for us! We have a lot of people who want to be baptized but can´t cause they´re not married, and the process is a pain... But you can just call me Elder Cupid cause I`m out here  encouraging everyone to get married:)

3. English class still rocks
Our English class every Wednesday and Friday night at the church is still working out great! We have a lot of youth going, and its cool to see their progress! The first day we talked to one girl who said she was atheist, but after coming to class a few times she participates in our opening and closing prayer and even said one!

4. The power of a mission
Seeing my testimony grow through mission service is incredible. Missions teach you things that you can´t learn anywhere else. You can say you know about Priesthood power, but after you've walked 45 minutes in the rain to give a blessing to a grandma, you can truly come to know. You can say you know that God lives, but after you look a stranger in the eye and bear your wholehearted testimony, you can truly feel it. I am forever grateful for service and I invite all of you to do more to develop your testimony of Christ.

Elder Rawson

My favorite member, Vinicio, had a birthday and we celebrated with him.
His RM mission stories are gold

Weekly district training meeting