Good Morning America,

I never thought I would say this, but this week was cold! Like out of nowhere the temperature dropped and now I'm considering buying gloves and a hoodie for when we are in our house because it gets pretty cold at night. During the day it's still warm though. I think it's kind of funny that I was in the hottest area during the hottest part of the year and now I'm in the coldest area during the coldest part of the year. But I'm not complaining because I would rather have it chilly than hot.

This week was full of happiness for me. The first happy thing that happened was that we bought 10 liters of Açaí (a kind of ice-cream textured like fruit desert) for us to eat. It barely fits in our freezer and has become my favorite food of all foods.

And then what happened at the end of the week was even better than Açaí! Gabriel was baptized and confirmed a member of the church! We really wanted Wellington to baptize him since he is the one that's been bringing him to church all this time but he was feeling really nervous and asked me to do it. It was an honor to baptize him. But I would say that for the first time in my mission the confirmation was more spirtual for me than the baptism. One of the counselors to the bishop whos name is João Batista (which literally means John the Baptist and is a very common name here for some reason) confirmed Gabriel and to me it sounded like a Patriarchal blessing! It was amazing. And another cool thing is that Gabriel's parents came to the baptism and to church! We are going to hopefully help them get married and live the commandments now.

I was also really impressed by the testimony meeting we had yesterday. The members here are really good at bearing brief testimony (less than 1 min) and more than 40 people were able to bear their testimonies during the meeting!! I find that really cool and I liked it a lot more than when only a few people go up and speak forever. It was really powerful.

Other than that the week was full of walking and talking to people like always. I know the Lord is directing His work here in Divinópolis and that there are people being prepared to hear the glad message of the gospel. I am grateful to be a missionary! I love you guys.

Elder Searle

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Elder Searle, Gabriel and Elder Dedeco

Elders Searle and Dedeco with Brother Cristiano

Elder Searle, Gabriel and Elder Dedeco

Gabriels Baptism

Wellington and Bruna with Gabriel