First baptism!!...well sort of

So good news, I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM! Well kinda, I should say the first fruits of our labors because he actually asked Elder Goulart to baptise him which really surprised us both since he´s in love with the US and is always talking to me and asking stuff. Guess the language barrier still up, but no problem, what´s important is that he got baptised. Got some pictures of him and his dad+little bro I´ll try sending. The kids great, all the branch here loves him, especially the missionaries. He was honestly a golden investigator, teaching him and getting to know him has been awesome. He made me promise to tell him before we get transferred so he can say goodbye, then if I ever come back to Crato to come say hi. Very mature 16 year old for sure making big decisions. None of the rest of his family are members, I think they all kinda have their own view...that seems to happen a lot here. Guess when the parents are working all day and the kids play in the street and hang around doing their own thing it´s hard to stay close as a family, makes me really appreciate you all and how we always eat together and find time to stay close no matter what. I´m just beginning to learn the importance of that now.
So there´s a couple things I´ve learned here on the Mish, or at least in Brazil. #1; If your alarm doesn´t wake you up, the dogs, roosters, or extremely loud car music will. People have some ghetto sounds systems here, like literally enormous speakers strapped to the tops of small cars that just blast music loud enough to shake our house. It´s ridiculous, especially at 4 AM. Anyways, #2; The water you shower with in the morning is always colder than the water in your drinking bottle. #3; Matches become very valuable when you depend on them to cook meals. And finally, #4; No matter how many times you eat rice and beans, you don´t get tired of them. No serious, I´ve had them at every meal not cooked by yours truly and I can still eat them. We went to a members house for lunch last terca-feira (tues), and I ended up feeling sick (yet still working haha) the rest of the day until I finally threw it back up around 7 that night. Guess where our lunch was scheduled the next day? Yep, the exact same member´s house with the exact same food. Stayed down the second time haha. The Lord truly blesses missionaries.
Well I know as soon as I sign off there will be a million things I forgot to say, but I hope I answered all the questions, etc. Oh, last thought. This week there´s been a big fair that happens annually here in Crato, and we had a tent set up to answer people´s questions and get contacts all week. Yesterday was the last time we had to work there, and a guy came up and started asking some questions about the church, especially baptisms for the dead, temples, etc. Elder Goulart was busy talking to someone else so it was on me, and I´ll be honest I could only understand about half of what the guy even said much less how I could answer. I eventually passed him off to a member to answer since I couldn´t. I can´t remember feeling so frustrated because I KNEW I could have answered his questions and told him more if I just knew what he was saying. Goulart and I took a walk for a while and talked for a bit. He assured me I was doing great for only being out 3 weeks and this should be completely expected, the problem was I just didn´t feel like a missionary when I couldn´t help people. I felt like dead weight following Elder Goulart around, it really sucked for a while. But later that night I was able to talk to a member for a good 20 minutes straight, then helped another person understand some facts about the gospel! I´m starting to see that the way God makes us stronger and better is by making us give our all and breaking us down until we have nothing left but a prayer in our hearts, and cry for help to our Creator to give us strength to continue. And once we reach that point, and only then, does God bless us, and bless us beyond our understanding. I shouldn´t have been able to talk for 20 minutes, but I did. I couldn´t understand one investigator, but taught another one shortly after.
The church is true. A igreja e verdadeira. God lives and loves us. Dues vive e nos ama. I know that he wants us to grow. Eu sei que ele quer que crescemos. Only by exercising faith in Him by living the gospel and striving to be better can we truly obtain this growth. Somente cuando exercemos fé em Ele por vivendo o evangelho e esforçando melhorar nos podemos obter este crescemento. I leave this testimony and my love with you all. Eu deixo meu testemunho e amor com vocês todo. Know that I think about you often, and though I love being out here, I can´t wait to see you again. Sabe que eu penso sobre vocês muitas veces, and assim eu amo estando aqui, não posso esperar para ver vocês novamente
I love you all so much!
-Elder Wickstrum