Stress, Sickness, and Baptism

Well, well, well. Another week come and gone! This was full of fun stuff, but don't be too fooled by the title, I'm absolutely perfect!  Keep reading and all will be revealed....

So the beginning of the week we had an awesome trianing session with the Mission President and his wife, all about stress. They talked about how stress is an absolutely normal part of life and that everyone will always have a little. It's when you let the stress go too far that it's dangerous. Remember you always have people to talk
to, and that can help a ton. Getting the opinion of another person always helps sort out things and make them better. So talk to people! Get it out, get things fixed, and make things better for yourself! If you ever need anyone to talk to, I've got this super wise missionary friend named Elder Ashford that you can email!

One of the other big events was Elder Marciano getting sick. I've been blessed to be perfectly healthy, and I didn't catch what he got. But Friday was very slow, and Saturday he was ordered to bed-rest, so after I traveled with the District Leader to do baptismal interviews, I spent the day studying scripture and napping with Elder Marciano. Any potential missionaries, make sure you know how to deal with sick people, because there's not too many people who can help if your companion gets sick (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!). So I was able to help Elder Marciano and he healed up pretty quick. He even felt good enough to go to church the next day and do one of the baptisms!!

We had two baptisms last Saturday. I baptized Irmã (Sister in Portuguese) Valdelice, and Elder Marciano baptized her son, Varnei. It was super awesome, and they love being in the church. We plan to continue working with them. We know that they can really benefit from our lessons. Next week they'll get the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and throughout the week we'll be teaching about other things, such as temples and how Valdelice and be reunited with her recently deceased husband in the next life through the sealing power of the temple. We also helped another family of recent converts yesterday who have been having some problems. We reminded them that life is hard, but they have the church and friends and scriptures to draw extra help from, not to mention a loving Heavenly Father who listens to our prayers and is willing to help when we ask. We reminded them that they have a huge goal to work towards, an eternal family in the Celestial Kingdom. Everyone has troubles, but through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, we know that families are eternal. I'm so glad for my family and how great friends there are to me and how close we are. I love them so much, and love that fact that I can be with them forever.

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss everyone, but I'm having fun! Next week I should find out where my next area will be! Have fun and stay safe everyone! Sending love!

Sincerely,
Elder Ashford