Dear Family and Friends,
I am hopefully going to include more pictures today but I
have been kinda a slacker about taking them. This week went really fast and we
had lots of success bringing people to church. We broke Elder Mitchel's record
of 6 people and got 8 people and 7 investigators. This is one of the most
important goals because there is a rule here that people need to go to church
twice before baptism. but, idk if i said this before, getting people to church
is harder than marking a baptismal date. I have no idea why.
So, I will report my first heartbreak. We started teaching a
60 year old couple who seemed really interested. Unfortunately they had a
smoking addiction and had been smoking about 20 cigarettes a day for about 30
years each. we set a goal for them to reduce that number by 2 every day until
they were down to zero and them seemed really excited to stop. We visited the
next day at about 3 and they had only smoked one time that day. The wife was on
her bed with a headache but they both seemed determined despite the pain. We
reminded them to read the scriptures and pray for support. but then the next
few days went sour. they started ignoring calls and even ignored us at their
gate. Finally, after they didn't go to church on Sunday we made eye contact with
the husband while at his house and he let us in to talk. We don't know for sure
but i think they tried to drop to zero cigarettes in 2 days and had forgotten
to read the scriptures. they had given up completely and did not want to try to
change anymore. they even said that they would still join the church if not for
the difficulty of changing. I was so sad, but I promised to invite them to
church every week and help them quit smoking. Honestly, I was just heartbroken
to see their willpower completely broken.
But, happier news, we are teaching another younger couple
and the really enjoyed church. I don't think that they had a single complaint
and their kid really enjoyed primary too. Our ward is really good at welcoming
visitors and helping the missionaries because we would have been so overwhelmed
without their help. We are also teaching a 16 year old guy that is really hard
to teach because of how much he studies. we finally got him to church and he
loved it too especially the priest quorum. I talked to another priest and he is
going to help us teach him. Hopefully, we can just find the time to teach him.
He is really willing and super smart. right now, he just needs to pray. a thing
that everyone forgets.
It was good to hear about your trip to Nana and Papa's house.
(in case your wondering, this keyboard doesn't have an apostrophe) The car trip
sounds luxurious, Aubrey. I will do some of my own bragging now. We wake up at
6:30 everyday and don't sleep until after 10:30. Saturday in the rain we got
tidal waved by 3 separate cars and walked around drenched. We have had to cut 9
investigators this transfer and I will probably have my first baptism this
Friday. I ate acai which was awesome and chauhasco which is basically Texas de
Brazil every week. I have a big blister on my right foot but it is going
away. Last week it was close to 110 degrees and all of my clothes stink because
the laundry detergent is not very good. ( the last one was an exaggeration, I
smell fine) that about sums it up.
Its too bad the Brazilian people are not too fond of
sarcasm. Its a good thing I cant say a whole lot yet. I have some time to train
my tongue. I bet that is why some missionaries do not like the States when they
return.
So, you guys are in the car right now huh. I bet that is
fun. How many hours is the drive? 15?
I am so excited to Christmas and to Skype you guys. I think
we get 2 hours to call. Super excited.
I think I will give my financial report since I am in debt
right now.
Currently, I have 42 R$ in cash and 25 R$ on my card. We
will get payed again next week on P-day.
we spend an average of 40 R$ every 2 weeks using the bus to
get the our lunch appointments which would sometimes be 3+ hours just walking.
To get to a house this week, we had a 30 min bus ride. It was crazy. She is the
only member there, but goes to church almost every week. Some of the members
here have so much faith. I spend another 50 R$ on food which consists of eggs,
hamburgers (.39$ each, really cheap), bread, butter, sugar, fruits, and
sometimes milk. I'm really eating healthy cant you tell. I did make a lime
shake this last week but it costs almost 5 R$ each one. so, not supper worth
it. I like making abacaxi (pineapple) juice even though it takes like 30 min to
get it all strained. If the pattern continues I may be able to save 25 R$ every
two weeks. If not, I will not resort to starving myself, just patience.
Ill save even more money because Elder Mitchell is going to
cut my hair. I wish him the best of luck.
OH, can you forward Bryan's weekly letter to me. we are
emailing each other but only little bits of stuff. oh, and Brealynn's blog stuff
too. man, I am demanding.
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