Michael: July 27, 2011

Dear family!
My faith was built this week as the Lord provided as he always has a smooth transition to a new area and companion. My new companion Elder Gordon was picked by Gordon B Hinckley out of the crowd to be that kid that got to put mortar on the temple corner stone when the started building the Boston temple some 11 years ago. He is also blessed with height (195 cm) and speaks good Portuguese, he´s been here in Brazil 2 months, he served 1 month in Detroit waiting for his visa.
I cut his hair last week.
It´s different and pretty nice to be here in BH, and in a ward, even though the hills here are enourmous and endless and sometimes steeper than most the double blacks up at Snowbird. We have a patriarch in our ward and other people that have been members 40+ years.
The work is going well. No one super firm... An old lady that wants to wait a week or two before she´s baptised, a schizophrenic that sometimes wants to be baptised and stop smoking/drinking coffee and the next minute doesnt want us coming to his house. But Im way happy cause of a man named Rafael! We went to his house last Saturday to teach his cousin, but he wasnt there so we taught him taught him an OK lesson and invited him to be baptised on the next Sunday. He thought hard about it but didnt accept. Normally we would´ve invited him to church and just moved on with our lives but I felt to have him pray about this decision and left him with a pamphlet about the Restoration, and when we came back to find his cousin we could ask him his answer. He didnt come to church the next either day but we stopped by after church and he said he prayed and had a dream like Joseph Smith that he saw a pillar of fire and wanted to be baptised that sunday because the church is true and was restored by a prophet of God, and cause his baptism lacked the right authority. He said he saw the part about the Book of Mormon and Saturday night prayed to God that he could get this other testament of Jesus Christ that has the fulness of the gospel, and then asked us how he could get one after he was baptised.
The next 3 days our lessons have been equally amazing. Rafael has read the Bible 5 times in his life and I think has most of it memorized... He´s already read over 20 chapters in the Book of Mormon and has most of those memorized too. We left him with a pamphlet of the Word of Wisdom on Sunday, and when we got there Monday night to ´´teach´´ it he hadn´t drinken coffee that day. Threw away his last joint that he decided not to smoke, and stayed home when his friend called him to go smoke crack and said he hadn´t used crack since we came Saturday which he´s been addicted to for a long time, had already done rehab etc.
Monday night we left him with a pamphlet about chastity and when we got there yesterday he said I want you guys to watch me throw away my playboy magazine, and he tore it up and was done with it!
I feel like Ive seen a miracle. I dont know that he´ll be able to be baptised on August 7th the day we marked cause of his crime record. He showed us where he was shot in the chest and had me feel where the bullet ended up, just beneath his skin on his ribs. He´s such a g-thug haha.
Other than that the only other crazy thing is I met one of Landon Tracy´s mission companions that is from this ward.
Jor- Did I tell you I saw Niwaldo again. Do you even know him?
Al & Rhett - loved the email, thank you!
Matt- What is this Cevada recipe!!!!!!???????????
to ALL and especially RM´s- Im debating on what stuff is worth lugging around in my luggage for rememberances or $ value and what stuff I should chuck out, worn out shoes? worn out g´s, once white now off-white short sleeve church shirts, brand new spare bed sheets Ive never used... I´d like your opions.
Well fam I love you all.
Elder Michael Gagon