I know someday we'll be happy again

February 21, 2011

Hey everybody!

So, my first week in Américo was pretty good, I think. I have been really stressed out, actually. The area is cool, though.

Like I said, my companion and I got here together, so we have been spending the whole week trying to figure out what to do here. The last elders who were here had quite a few investigators that they were managing to take to church, so we're trying to pick up where they left off.

We taught a lady named Maria every day this week. She is addicted to cigarettes and coffee, so we're helping her stop. We invited her to be baptized, and she accepted. But then we talked about the law of chastity and found out that she's not married. Also, her "husband" is always away from home, and he only comes back for five days at a time. So we're hoping that they will at least want to get married. Who knows. She didn't go to church on Sunday because she slept at someone else's house (or she told her nephew to tell us that), so there's that.

There's another lady named Rosilda who is also progressing nicely. She's a sweet lady who the other elders were teaching, and she also accepted baptism this week. She, too, is addicted to coffee. And she didn't go to church this week. Hrmph.

My companion's a cool guy. He's short and plump and has a huge head. And he's from Tocantíns, and no one is from Tocantíns. He's really tranquilo, though, and we've been getting along well. He only has six months on the mission, and his other two comps were hard (read: bums), so I'm trying to help him learn how to be a missionary. Like, how to actually be a missionary. And it's working out!

The Church isn't very strong here; like I said last week, we meet in a house, and there's only a branch here. Oddly enough, though, church attendance in the branch here is actually higher than it was in my last ward, and the members seem a lot more willing and excited to help with the missionary work. And there are teenagers in the branch here! So far, the members have been really cool.

What else? I'm still wearing socks and sandals. I tried to wear shoes one day and it hurt like heck.

I made a goal to read the rest of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese this transfer, which will be pretty tough because this is a five-week transfer. I have to read at least ten pages a day to keep up, and I'm loving it! I'm just getting to some of my favorite chapters now: Alma 32-ish to Alma 43-ish. Reading the Book of Mormon so much has really helped my testimony grow. I feel like I can testify to people of the truthfulness of that book now more than ever. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God because I have read it, pondered the teachings that it contains, and asked God if it's true. I received an answer to my prayers, and every time I read in the Book of Mormon, I feel the Spirit so strongly.

And that's all that matters!

I love you guys with all of my heart.

Tchau!

Elder Wiggins