Queridos Família e Amigos,
Eu amo esta obra. We witnessed yet another grande milagre ontem quando Karina, 25 years old, compartilihou o testemunho dela no reunião sacramental e foi batizado logo depois o reunião depois só 16 dias ensinando ela. Karina is by far the most elect daughter of God that I have came across on the mission. We did a contact with her back in November and could tell that there was something different about her by her extremely happy and humble countenance, but because she was living outside our area, we didn´t have a way to stay in contact with her. That was until we ran into her near a member´s house at the end of December and found out that she lived in a small apartment below where the member lived. The following week we ran into her in the entrance of a neighborhood market. As it was pouring down rain and she didn´t have an umbrella Elder Ribeiro offered to share his umbrella and walk her to her house a block away. As the rain was pretty strong, she accepted the offer and we dropped her off at her house. However, a week or so later we had transfers and Elder Ribeiro got transferred to Curitiba, so the first couple weeks my head was in a daze as I began training, for the first time on my mission, Elder Kakuschke. My second week with Elder Kakuschke we ran into Karina again, and that is when I decided...``We need to mark an appointment with this woman, it seems like God keeps putting her in our path. That day we marked our first appointment with her for later during the week. On Friday January 18th as we taught her the restoration in her small cramped apartament, the spirit was very srtong and we invited her to be baptized on Sunday the 10th of February. That following Sunday she wasn´t able to go to church because she was in Brasilia doing a concurso. As we taught her the last full week of January, we taught her the word of wisdom and law of chastity and miraculously she didn´t have any problem with either commandment, because it seems like 90% of the people here have at least one problem with one of them. After teaching her all that week, she showed up to church and stayed for all three hours, plus an extra 45 minutes to see Gabrieli, an 8 year old member be baptized. That night she told us it was a miracle she stayed for the whole time because almost every Sunday morning she would travel an hour outside the city to a family farm. That same night as she told us she loved the baptism and church and I asked her how´d she like being baptized like Gabrieli the next Sunday the 3rd of February after church. She reponded that she´d love to. As we taught a spiritual tuesday night lesson about the plan of salvation, tears were brought to her eyes as we explained how in the Celestial kingdom she could live with God and her family in neverending peace and happiness. Because she had a rough childhood, this lesson gave her a hope she never had before. On Friday she had her baptismal interview and she passed with flying colors. Elder López, my zone leader of Yakima/Spokane Washington, said Karina is the most elect person he´s ever interviewed for baptism. On Saturday night we taught another spiritual lesson with the Karina and the branch president´s wife, outside her apartment, on some chairs in the rain beacause we didn´t have a man over the age of 18 with us. Yesterday during fast and testimony meeting Karina bore her testimony, only her second time ever at church, and she was baptized by Elder Kakuschke in a great baptismal service with overwhelming support.
I know that the Lord is preparing his children to accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, it is my opportunity as a missionary and a member of the restored chrurch to share this message with everyone and encounter those who God has prepared. The work is truly miraculous, it is the hardest work but by far the most fulfilling.
Thank you all for your prayers, love and support! Have a great first full week of February!
Amo,
Elder Jonathan Jared Hokanson
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