Hey! Your old man should know when you see a shadow, there's something there

June 21, 2010

Hey guys.

There isn't a whole lot to report from this week. My companion and I are still working our butts off trying to find people to teach. We were able to get a few new investigators this week, but none of them went to church. I swear, people never have time to do anything but work (at least, that's what they tell us).

We did have a somewhat interesting experience. We were making contacts one night in a bairro (neighborhood) that has been mostly untouched by missionaries. My companion started talking to a middle-aged man at his house, who then invited us in. He asked us a TON of questions about the Church, from priesthood authority to church organization to baptism to everything else. We were happy to answer his questions, and we kind of turned the conversation into the first lesson. We taught him about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and invited him to read and pray. That's when things got kind of weird. He started asking pointed questions about our message that were obviously intended to make us say something that he could attack. His daughter, who had been kind of listening from the other room the whole time, came into the living room and started asking other questions. They said they were from the Congregação Cristã do Brasil, which is a pretty huge church down here. The man, whose name turned out to be something like Deus Décimo (which means something like "God Ten" in English), proposed that it was enough to just believe what we were telling us and not read the Book of Mormon. And then they basically quoted 2 Nephi 29 when they talked about how they already have the Bible and how they don't need another Bible and then they started talking about their church's beliefs like how women can't cut their hair and they have to wear skirts because it says so in 1 Corinthians 11 but it doesn't really say that and blah blah blah blah blah.

I just bore my testimony in as simple and straightforward language as I could, and my companion explained some other things and we got out of there. All you have to do is get them to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, because it answers everything. Anyway, it was a pretty crazy night. We went back there on Saturday and agreed to go to their church if they would come to ours. And we were all ready to set up a time to go with them, and then the daughter said she wouldn't go to ours.

Actually, immediately after that appointment, I had the most absurd experience of my entire mission. I don't know if I'll be able to do it justice here.

We were walking away from Deus Décimo and his daughter's house in the general direction of our house. I saw a thin old man of about sixty years walking towards us, so I started making a contact with him. I shook his hand and started introducing us. As I was talking, my companion shook the guy's hand as well. As soon as their hands separated, something crazy happened. The old man shouted "Oh!" at the top of his lungs. My companion and I immediately stepped back and through our hands up in surprise.

"What do you guys want?" the man shouted, "Do you want to fight?!"

As he was screaming, he quickly moved back and forth in a fighting stance, and he almost kicked my companion. AND THEN, guys, he shouts "Oh!" again, and does a full cartwheel in the middle of the street, just as a motorcycle flies by and almost barrels through him. After that, he turned around and slowly walked away. My comp and I continued on our way, completely shocked. We looked back after only a few seconds, and the scrawny old ninja had disappeared into the darkness.

I still can't believe that that actually happened to me.

Anyway, I'm doing really well still. We're working hard and talking to everyone, which kind of makes me feel like a salesman. But every time we get into someone's house to teach, it gives me a little boost to keep going. My area is awesome, as is my comp. I'm doing my best and learning a lot. And I'm happy! I hope you guys are, too.

luv

booga