1 is not a lonely number!

´Twas the week of 1´s this past week.

The First, and most important One, was my FIRST Baptism! Priscilla was baptized on Friday. She is a wonderful 24 year old that the Elders contacted way back in December and taught her every lesson, she went to church a few times, but then decided that she needed to have her Cirisma (?) first in the Catholic church. So the Elders stopped contacting her. She approached me the first day that I was in the field here as she recognized our name tags. I remembered not knowing anything that she said but I remembered her name. Then I came across her form in the area book and it was very apparent that it was the same person. Nearly 6 weeks passed and one day Sister França and I decided to pass by her house. She was home, invited us in and we started to talk. She says "I´m ready to be baptized now!" Wow, it was incredible. So we retaught her all of the lessons, set a date for the Baptism, and now she is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Another 1, the same day as the baptism of Priscilla was the Anniversary for Sister França of her First Year in the Field! We bought a celebratory pizza (which unfortunately was not very good. The cheese in Brazil is pretty strange!)

The Last 1. My first Temple Dedication is Brazil! The Curitiba Temple was dedicated this weekend. It was so wonderful to see the Broadcast of the Cultural Celebration the night before and then see our Wonderful Prophet, Thomas S. Monson Dedicate the Temple on Sunday. He has such a warm and incredible personality. It was a very special occassion for Sister França too, as she is from Brazil. The temple there is Gorgeous! There are these large trees that were left on the property and the temple was built around them. I don´t know the name of the trees, but they´re very tall with the leaves only at the top. I felt such a warm spirit during the dedication. It is such an incredible testimony to me that the Church exists in the same form in the whole world. Temples exist in every continent in the world, and our Prophet receives revelation for members everywhere! This is the true Church of Jesus Christ restored in Latter Days!

News on the investigators.
Unfortunately Claudia has not returned. She is most likely in the Favela lá com her friends. We pray for her return.
Otaviano continues to be stagnant. However Sister França says that often the "mole" or the "soft/lazy" investigators are the ones that need the most time, but eventually come through after months of work by the missionaries.

We have been studying a lot this week about the Expiaçao, the Atonment of Jesus Christ. This is one of the central doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ, and this plays a huge part in our purpose here on earth. Because of the Atonment of Jesus Christ, he has already suffered for all of our sins, however, our personal responsibility has not been taken away. We do sin, we do commit errors everyday. But He already knows how we feel, because he already felt the same pain in a such a greater way than we can ever realize. We therefore need to do our part by using the Atonement to our benefit. How? Repent, and invite Christ into your life. It is like the picture where Christ is standing at the door knocking, but there is no door handle. He will not force his way into your life, he will not open the door and invite himself in. WE have to be the ones to open the door and allow the powers of the Atonement to work in our lives. Our pains can be lifted, our lives can improve, and we can feel the Love of Christ greater in our lives. Alma 34:8-10. Read these scriptures and then ask yourself, Why do we need the Atonement. Pray, and through the Power of the Holy Ghost you will have a greater understanding of these things. This is a my testimony that I leave with you!

Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Tittelfitz