Mudança

Suely (on the right of Daniel) brought him a camera from her visit to Utah. Debarath is her daughter on the far right. 

Mudança is change in Portuguese. AND it means to move houses also...here´s the mighty mudança that happened this week.

     Started off with moving house 20 mins away!! Our new apartment feels like the penthouse to our old apartment. It´s sooo nice and clean. Like our house is actually clean. Did I mention how there isn't a billion spiders and cockroaches because it's clean? Another perk of this mudança was our house is like a giant fan. Always. So sleeping is actually a joy and not a sweat fest. Studying in the morning feels like the beach as the sun peeks through, the wind blows in the house, and I pretend I am at the beach. It's just a great Christmas present we got. A CLEAN house. 

     Here's what I learned from this move. It probably was one of the most patient growing moments in my life!!! Some Elders really like to procrastinate a move until an hour before the moving van comes...Luckily I was able to pack a way a lot of the house to lessen the procrastination blow...but here ́s to unpacking the house alone! I am just thinking, a big task to do alone and any help I get is just a bonus! 

     The other mudança that happened this amazing Christmas week was CLAUSNER ́S BAPTISM (you can hit me if you ́re offended by this, but what are the odds that someone named CLAUSNER would be baptized during the Christmas season...3 days after all the children wait for Santa Claus? Oh, you better know I was praying for a Claus that night...definitely the Clausner that got baptized!). Sadly, his wife decided to wait a little longer to be baptized, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happens next week!? 

     But one of the best moments of this baptism weekend was when Clausner was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost. Kindly, he chose me to perform the ordinance for him and how lucky, AND NERVOUS, I was. Sunday morning we placed our hands on his head in front of the whole ward, and I was able to speak with the gift of tongues!!! Yes, a lot of practice helped but I know as I spoke words and pronounced blessings, the spirit was strong! There was a part that I said, "one day you’ll marry with your wife in the temple!" What blessing I am so excited to see in his life!!! I know he is on the right path because immediately after church, he was pulled aside and given the Aaronic Priesthood too. Talk about a #tender fest that will happen when Clausner gets the opportunity to baptize his wife!!! Oh, I am praying it happens within the next 3 weeks because my gut is telling me I'll probably get transferred...:(

     One last thought....RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU´RE PUMPED THAT THIS WEEK IS THE START OF THE BOOK OF MORMON COME FOLLOW ME STUDY MANUAL??? I ́m pretty pumped if you can ́t tell. The funny part is I don't have it in English, so I read the manual in Portuguese, the scriptures in English, feel the language of the Spirit, and any words that come out of my mouth during my study time is a mixture of all three at the same time!!!

Merry Christmas and the HAPPIEST of New Years!!

Elder Gardanier