Baptism, Sugar Cane, Brazilian Chocolate, oh my!

Wooh! What an awesome week! Here are a few happenings of the week in pictures...

sugar cane anyone?

1. it rained (we're in a drought so rain is needed!)

2. We made donuts! (I promise I'll stop taking pictures in the morning... note the bags under my eyes)

3.Our activity at church was a questionnaire game. If you get the question wrong, you get pie in the face. Super fun... and super messy! 

4. BAPTISM WOO!!! GILMAR WAS BAPTIZED!

baptism prep! let's do this thing.

baptism prep - tada!

5. GILMAR WAS CONFIRMED!! Also, someone gave us large sugar cane sticks. SOO yummy. You peel it with a knife then chew on it to suck the juice. Apparently it's really good for your teeth. (um...)

sugar cane! 

celebrations with brasilian chocolate.
we only bought one but my suitcase will need as much as i have here.

So lets talk about Gilmar. It's been such a crazy couple of weeks due to my friend Gilmar. 

Gilmar is an elect. One day Sister Araujo and I wanted to practice how to teach people in the streets. We were thinking of what we could do to help others really catch the importance of our message. I remembered something I learned in Georgia and something that all the missionaries were encouraged to do. As I shared it with Sister A and we practiced, I realized I hadn't used it here in Brasil since I relearned so much in Portuguese. In any case, Sister A really liked what we practiced and the next day on splits with the Sister Training Leaders, she put it into play and knocked on a door. She conversed almost word for word just like the practice and the man began to show more interest. By the end of the conversation, he accepted a return appointment and even accepted a date to prepare for baptism. 

Later that night Sister A came running to me saying, "Sister Hawkins, it worked!! I used the practice and we're going to have a baptism!!"

The next day I got to meet the famous Gilmar and he truly was prepared by the Lord. He soaked everything in a like a sponge. As the week went on and church came around, we decided to meet him at his door to walk to church. He seemed really quiet and a bit nervous. He hardly said a word and it almost seemed like we were talking to a brick wall. Church went on and there was a blatent difference from his attitude the moment he stepped into the church and the moment he walked out. He was nervous and so quiet but by the end there wasn't anyone in the world that would wipe the smile off his face. He was smiling and participating in the classes... in fact the most I'd heard him talk was the first Sunday at church. 

We went on teaching him and watching him change his attitude about many things. You could tell there was this new light about him. Every time we went to teach him, he wrote his questions on separate sheets of paper that he was studying to find in the Book of Mormon. He also read every pamphlet carefully and still carries all of them to church. 

19 days since the first day Sister Araujo met him, Gilmar was baptized. It was an awesome opportunity to watch him just fall in love with the Gospel. I love how God can really change people. I love how he can use the weak and simple- 18/21 year old kids- to help them change. It's more than just an experience of a life-time to be an instrument in the Lord's hands, it's a privilege and an honor. 

I'm so grateful for my Savior and for this Gospel. It is truly a miracle and light in my life. It IS my life! I know it's true with all of my heart.

enjoy the photos! 

Sister Hawkins

sister a almost fell in the street. she used my arm to catch her and i have battle scars to prove it!