Greetings from the city of Betim!

This morning we got up early and traveled to Betim so I can get brazillian identification. The law changed recently and now all the foreign people need to have one. We are waiting for the federal police building to open up at 1. The Zone Leaders work here and it's a city about the size of Divinópolis.

This week was full of ups and downs! It ended on an up though so I'm happy. Unfortunately Marithissa is not willing to live some commandments which is keeping her from partaking of baptism. But we had a wonderful week besides that! We found quite a few investigators and have been teaching a lot with the members. I have some pictures to send but I'm afraid this cyber cafe could have a virus so I will wait till next week to send them!

I also met an american on the street this week. He passed by us and yelled "look at these americans!" to which I responded "ei, tudo bem?" (which means hi, is all going well?), to which he responded "Don't 'tudo bem' me! Tudo bem in your face! I'm from Georgia!" It was quite the experience. Turns out that he was in Brazil to attend a wedding with his brazillian wife. They were pretty cool after talking to them!

Yesterday was quite possibly the best sacrament meeting so far here. We were able to bring a nice family to church and some other investigators too! Elivando is the dad and he is really enjoying the church. We have been working with them for almost two months. His biggest difficulty is that he's trying to quit coffee, but he makes it for two or three days and his head starts hurting like crazy. He takes medicine to fight off the pain, but it doesn't go away so he drinks coffee again. We made a plan with them and will be doing a special fast in 2 weeks to help the whole family be ready for baptism. His wife, Évellin, and their son, Luis Otávio, have their own set of problems too but I believe they will be able to overcome them!

I just confirmed on the church website that I can now go proselyting with sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat. We are going to look like spys now.

I love Divinópolis. I am so grateful for the success the Lord has given us since the day I arrived. My biggest joy comes from seeing the new members become fully involved and converted to the church. We ate lunch at Denise's house with Wellington and Bruna yesterday and it was so awesome! The made bbq for us and it was possibly the best meal I have had here so far. I will send a picture of my plate next week.

Well that was basically my week. Oh and we also starting teaching a guy who's fom Haiti yesterday. He has been in Brazil for a little bit longer than me. It was cool to teach him. He has a friend who brought him to church yesterday!

Have a great week you guys!

Love,

Elder Searle

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