I am still in Jacarepaguá and my companion is still Elder Amorim. I am on my second transfer with him. We are finishing up 3 months together. I am training him and the training is a period of 12 weeks. He is 25 years old and he is from Brazilia (North of São Paulo). He has a great attitude about the work, and to me attitude is everything.  I have had more success with him than I have had with any other companion (he is my 4th companion in the field). I have had 3 brazilian companions and 1 american.

This is my second area so far. Its called Jacarepaguá which is the name of the city means alligator. So yeah if you translate it to english im living in Alligator, River of January. Its awesome. Its definitely upperclass here. There still are a ton of slums but theres tons of nice apartment buildings too. Its more like the city life. Our apartment is right next to the church on one of the main roads called Geramârio Dantis.

I sent a pic of me and my companion from a lookout point from one of the members house. That is a shot of the other side of town that is 100% slums. One the other side of that hill is where the city is, as well as our house and the church.

So the day to day work has been really good. We are teaching a ton. We study until 12 (1 more hour for training for my companion and 1 hour for language study). Then we walk to lunch which is usually about a 30min-1hr walk. Then we go out and teach! We have been teaching a couple families that have finally went to church. They were lined up to be baptized this week but it fell through. Its really a bummer but were getting back on our feet and we are gonna keep going 100%

Thanks also for your prayers. I really feel divine help and i know its because you guys are praying for me and my companion. So Elder Amorim - my child (thats what we call the missionaries we train. They call their trainers their dads lol) and i have been blessed with a lot of success this month. We baptized 7 people this month including a family. Our zone had 23 total baptisms this month, which was the most it has ever had. To give you guys an idea for how often baptism happen here, in a zone its average to baptize 8-12 people a month.  I am so happy and grateful for this.

I feel so grateful for the opportunity to serve here. My companion and i have felt a HUGE difference in the ward. The members are working with us so much more now, the ward attendance has grown significantly since i have been here in the past 3 months. The recent converts are even working with us. This has been such an amazing experience. I have learned that this work is not possible without the help of the members. My companion and i have worked so hard these past few months to get the confidence of the members and to get this ward fired up to serve with us. It has made all the difference. We worked side by side with our WML, bishop and the Elders quorum president to have this success. Miracles have happened and its not because of us, its because of the members. I hope you guys find time to help the missionaries and ask for specific people or families that you can visit with them. If the missionaries in your ward are serious about the work, they will do anything to visit people with you guys. Members make the difference.