Miracle Baptism and Qualified!!!

"So this week has been awesome!!! Last Wednesday night a miracle occurred! We were on splits and when Elder McEwen went to a member's house, the daughter in one of our families was there talking with Mayara. Before he even started to teach she asked, 'Can I ask you something...What do I need to do to be baptized?' OH!!! It was a miracle, and it was proof of the Lord's acceptance of our sacrifices and hard work. Well, she was baptized on Saturday and she is as happy and faithful as ever. Her name is Diane and she is 14 years old. Elder McEwen baptized her and I confirmed her. I also organized and conducted the baptismal service which I was nervous about, but loved! (Oh ya, Sunday was interesting. We blessed the sacrament, spoke in church, taught the Gospel Principles class, confirmed Diane, and gave three blessings that night.)

Aside from that, we went on splits with our zone leaders so we could "Qualify" It was three hours of grilling about our knowledge of Preach My Gospel and mission techniques and rules, but both of us passed. That means that I am THE FIRST junior companion in the entire mission to qualify according to the criteria for senior companions. I qualified before many of our zone and district leaders here in the mission, and was the first 20 or so of all the missionaries here to qualify. This is something I take great pride in. We qualified Tuesday morning and that afternoon we had interviews with the president and as I walked into his office, I whipped out my qualification sheet and said "Olhe aqui!' ('Look at this!') The president relates the qualification and the 'Padrao Amon' (Ammon Pattern) to mountains that we have to climb and I've climbed one peak and now we're going up the other! Another thing that makes me happy is that our faith is shown by our works and fulfilling this qualification process strengthens my faith and enthusiasm! It was so good to hear the president's praise. He told me that he has so much pride in us, that he is really happy with our work, and that we are examples of Christlike missionaries, and that we surely are climbing the mountain.

Studing for the qualification really unified us as a companionship. We were already a wonderful team, but because we prepared for this together, worked on this together, and talked about this together for the past three weeks, it really brought a level of unity I've yet to see in the mission. This transfer has been, is, and will be the best yet.

Thank you for everything you do! Thanks for the packages and letters and prayers. I love you and am having a great time! The church is true! Jesus Christ is our savior and he loves us! Ate mais!"

The now QUALIFIED Elder C. Larsen