Vitora, Brazil

Vitora, Brazil

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

12. I will try to let some light shine.

Dear Family, Ill just make things quick by saying that this was the hardest week yet. Even Elder Mitchell described it as the hardest week of his mission. It was probably harder for him though because he has been sick since Friday. But, where should I begin. I will try to let some light shine on this week if I can but for no means take this letter to mean that I am discouraged. That would never happen. We started the week with transfers and we had to say goodbye to Elder Richards. I have a picture of him that I am sending. That wasn't such a bad thing though because our whole zone stayed the same which is really rare. I have my first Brazilian roommate now and it is really good to get to practice more Portuguese. The mission Christmas party was also that day and Elder Payton Hansen arrived in Brazil. Did you know that he has to go through training again? But, it was really good to see and talk to him. So, we eventually got back home and started working almost everyday in a neighborhood called Penha, which is about 1 and a half hour walk from our house. We had a date marked for this Saturday that we were sure wasn't going to fall through. So, we made progress with her everyday and she was so excited to be baptized but then on Friday she told us she had one thing she needed to clear up but that it shouldn't interfere with the baptism. So, we were worried but still hopeful. I hopes literally fell off a cliff. So, Saturday morning, when the baptism is completely ready we learn that she is pregnant, which we took as a problem but not something that needed to postpone the baptism but we went to her house at about 4o clock to see if we could encouraging her for her baptism. Then we learned the real problem. She was literally terrified of living alone with another child. She told us that the neighborhood would judge her really harshly and a midst the pleading on our part to just trust the Lord, she expressed her desire to talk to a women who would understand her. Ultimately, we all had our hearts crushed because we all knew what she was giving up. But, my testimony still stands that the gospel is for everyone regardless of circumstance and that this is the one true path to happiness. I pray that one day she remembers her desires to follow the example of Christ. I wrote the bad first so that everyone would not be left with sad thoughts about my mission. I didnt mention that it rained everyday this week and that made it all the harder. Regardless, I will make the rest of my letter happy. Despite the rain on Sunday, which really hurts church attendance here, our other investigators made the trip to church. They are a young family with a 4 year old, super adorable daughter, and they work sooo much. We have been teaching them for almost three months now but it is really hard to mark a date with both of them. The husband really likes the church but feels that, like his experience in the baptist church, he should spend years preparing for baptism. On the bright side, his wife has accepted to be baptized this Saturday and is reading and praying basically everyday. Even though we dont want to, we may have to baptize them separately to keep her progressing. our hope is that she pulls him along. I was just really happy when they came to church. She works at a bread shop and we are going to pass by there today to talk more about baptism and get her excited. Yesterday was especially hard but it was really good for contacting people. We couldn't find any of our other investigators in there houses and had 5 hours left over with absolutely nothing. Amidst the downpour we just kept knocking and knocking. Address after Address, Door after Door, talking with everyone just to teach a lesson. We even bought some açai and taught at the same time with the saleswomen. She accepted the commitment to be baptized and we are just praying that she is married. I don't know why we didn't ask. We also found others that accepted a visit for later in the week. We have set a really high new investigators goal and are going to work really hard to get it. Along with our baptism. Also, Maria de Nazare, my first baptism got a ride to church this week and was confirmed. That was a whole other story but I promised only good things. She was just so happy to finally be an official member of the Church. This sums up my week. I am so excited to skype call on Christmas. Until Wednesday, LOVE,
Elder Jacobson (Andrew)


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