Matt: August 24, 2011

Dear Family,
This week was a goody. We were able to get Milena the one week eleita into the waters of baptism and have her sins remitted! (<- that´s a word right?) Nossa it was awesome. The water was a bit freezing, but the spirit must´ve been strong or something because when we asked her about it later she said the water was warm. So cool things that have happened this week... Umm 2 hours ago I was playing BASKETBALL with PRESIDENT CORDON!!!!!! Holy cow this might be one of the greatest P days ever! It was unreal. It was satisfying in the way that General Conference is satisfying; even though I´m here in the deep southern hemisphere I felt transported back to my sanctuary and my home with old friends that I recognized. But today instead of seeing my boiees Jeffrey R Holland and Thomas S Monson, it was my friends the free throw line, the back board, and the hoop (let it rain!).
Also this week (actually last week) we went to our pastor friend Fabiano´s house to check his progress. We asked him if he had read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. He said that he had prayed and that he didn´t know what was happening in his life, but the only present that he got for Brasilian father´s day was a Book of Mormon from his 3 year old daughter...Awesome. We went back there this Sunday and it just so happened that he has the most amazing guitar ever, that I´m almost at the point of coveting. Anywho, he got it out and played some gospel songs, and then seeing my dinner plate eyes he handed it to me and was like, "Do you know any praises?" and I was like, "Praises?" And he, thinking that we play guitar hymns every sunday in our church or something, repeated, "Yeah do you know any praise songs?" And I said to him, "No I don´t know any praises, but I know The Kings." and I busted in with a browm browm browm browm browm browm browm browm BRAANO BRAANO BRAANbrowm browm browm, bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon BEIN BEIN BEIN BEIN bon bon bon... It was amazing, more for me than for him or my companion, but still great. I don´t know which invited the spirit less, mine or his, but it was all good.
Other than that we are just working working and working some more down here in Tebas (which is the Portuguese translation for the city of Thebes lá in Africa according to my scriptures). Trying to find them peoples who are right nice fer the baptizin´. Definitely have a lot of work to be done, and we are trying are best to be the ones who get it done.

With much love,
Elder Matt Gagon