Very Merry Christmas, and a Holly Jolly one too.

Wow, what a week!

We took the bus to Goiânia.. 4 hours by car, 7 by bus!!! Because the bus stops in every little town between here and there. Ipameri, Vaniapolis, Silvania, Bonfinopolis, Pires do Rio... All the little towns that we didn't know existed and will some day have missionaries. They call that bus the "pinga pinga" because he stops so much.

The christmas conference was awesome. The Talent show took FOREVER. 2 and a half hours of Talents... I'm glad I hid my talent in the ground. haha. There were some pretty funny songs about missionary work. And one missionary played the harmonica with his nose.

My new companion is Elder Caetano! he's AFRICAN! how cool is that? His family was baptized while he was in the mission too! More blessings all the time.

My time is up but I'll call you guys 4 o clock my time, 11 your time ok?

Merry christmas and 

I know that Our redeemer lives.

Elder Wallace

Holly Jolly Fotos:  
Natal in Salete's house

Family night when Elder Badu was Transfered

Elder Moffit, My comp from the MTC

Elder Caetano, My new greenie from Moçambique!!!

On the first day of christmas: A toucan in a Mango Tree!

This week it rained miracles.

It also rained rain. REALLY HARD! I forgot to take pictures but it was the kind of rain that even though we walked with umbrellas, we got soaked! haha. Catalão's sewage system almost couldn't take it. A major pipe broke and some people didn't have water for a couple days. Fortunately our water tank didn't run out before they fixed the pipe.

This week attendance at church was a bit weaker, but lots of people we have been working with came. We had some awesome experiences.

One day we talked to a 18 year old and marked to come back another day to talk to the whole family. As we walked away I think the Lord wanted us to go back to his house because all of sudden it started raining SUPER HARD! we were getting wet even with our umbrellas (which we now carry with us constantly) so we went back to his house to get out of the rain. 

While we were there he told us about how a few people he was close to passed away, and how he thinks that we won't remember this life after death. We shared a short message using scriptures from the book of Mormon to show that since the purpose of this life is to learn and grow, it wouldn't make sense for us to forget all that. He was very interested in the Book of Mormon.  

       The next day we saw him and he told us about how he stayed up until 5am reading the Book of Mormon. He said he is halfway through!

Another time we went to teach a referal and she wasn't too interested. But her friend came and sat in the room. After the message we were about to say the prayer and her friend asked about the preperation to be baptized. She said she wants to be baptized change her life. We'll visit her this week!!!

So I know that the Lord guides us to the people that need to hear our message. Without a doubt he know who is ready to receive the missionaries and when we do all we can we will be constantly guided by his hand. 

We're really excited for christmas because of the WEDDING!!! haha. Geraldino and Fernanda, a couple that have been coming to church for about a month now. So much is changing in their life since they started to live the Gospel. It's amazing to see how much better things got for them.

My companion Elder Badu was transfered! The members loved him a lot, he and his old companion were the first missionaries to get here in Catalão. I'll find out who my new companion will be at the Christmas Conference in Goiânia. We take the bus for 7 hours tomorrow, and the conference will be wednesday.

Love you all and a very merry Christmas to you!

Elder Wallace

Always Follow The Promptings Immediately!

This week was fantastic!

Taking away the sink I broke in our apartment last monday... So I went to put up the 20 liter jug of water and the support fell.. Our fiberglass sink and the dishes on it.... "Já era!" it was nice to have a sink while it lasted... Anyways I've contracted our investigator that's going to get married to help us fix it. It'll actually be pretty cheap to fix after I buy another cheap fiberglass sink!

Church was awesome... haha. we ended early (which nobody will complain about right? haha) because it was fast and testimony meeting. Very spiritual. We had a grand total of 8 members and 23 VISITORS!!! 14 that can be baptized. The investigators were like, "where are the members?" haha. We even had some come early and the left because they thought they were mistaken about the address!!! There wasn't anyone to welcome them at the door because the members were setting up the chairs still. :( but we'll talk to them this week. It's pretty easy to get people to church. the hard part for us has been to get them to progress towards baptism.

Also this week we were walking to an appointment and we were a bit early. I stopped and looked at a corner store for a bit... Then I went in to invite the cashier to church. There was a guy drinking a coke at a table but I didn't pay much attention to him. Then he called us over. He told us he had felt an amazing calm the moment we walked in, a peace that was incredible. He asked if we could visit his house and we were happy to oblige!

When we went to his house he said he had been watching a clip of Jesus walking with the apostles, and he thought about us and said he knew we were true representatives of Jesus Christ.

His name is Fausto and his wife has a great desire to be baptized. We'll challenge them to get married so they can be baptized together.

It was amazing to see the difference that the spirit makes in our lessons. We've been trying hard to convert people and not just baptize them. It's tough but I know it will make the difference here in Catalão in a few years.

Love you all! Merry Christmas! (I know we've still got a while haha.)

Elder Wallace

Natal. Christmas Countdown

Hey Fam!

This week was just as good if not better than the last week. The time flies by so fast and it seems like there's not enough time to get everything done! but like it says in Ecclesiastes, there's time for everything.

It doesn't help that we somehow managed to find great people to teach in the four corners of the city. A member Referal and Less-actives by our house, A baptismal date and less-active family on the edge of the city (you can see the fields and jungle) and another person with a baptismal date by the church. We walk about an hour to get to the church. and then another 30 minutes to get to the edge of the city.  

We've also got people coming to church from the part of the city that's on the other side of the highway! (an hour and a half in the OTHER direction!) 

The greatest blessing we had this week was the attendance at church, we hit 46! This week was the most we've had in Catalão yet since it opened in August. Elder Badu and I are doing our part bringing back the less actives and bringing 13 new investigators to church this week! I don't know what I did to deserve being transfered here. There are other areas where the difficulty is getting people to church, but this isn't one of them. I'm always suprised with who comes. Sometimes the people who we were sure would come don't show up, but a person we invited on the street without teaching does! It's amazing.

Finally got a few complete families to church. There's a family of 4 we're teaching and praying for. Trying to get the husband to get in the boat so they can all get baptized together!

We've got two baptisms marked for this weekend. It's hard to find them at home to teach them. That's our biggest worry. We've got 4 more people that are also preparing to be bapized this month!

The thing I love the most about Catalão is that I know all the members and less-actives. Every week I make a list of who came to church and who didn't come this week. It's so good to know each and every one of them personally, and we've been able to visit all of them quite a few times.

I love the scriptures and I love having an hour of study time every day. If you don't feel that hunger for the scriptures yet, set a time apart to read and pray to heavenly Father asking him to give you a love of the scriptures. Even if we just have the desire to love the scriptures that's enough! 

I'm excited for Christmas because I KNOW that Christ exists, is alive, and does not sleep. Strong spiritual experiences are few, special and sacred, but one of these experiences I had is proof to me that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he loves us all.

Love you all and I'm excited to talk to you on Christmas!

Elder Wallace