I will be with you when you lose your breath

April 18, 2011

Good morning from Américo Brasiliense! How is everyone doing today?

Crazy news: we baptized and confirmed this week! There's this couple named Cristiane and Fernando that I've mentioned in past emails. Their son is a member who's currently living in Utah with an ex-Sister's family. About a million missionaries have come to know and teach them over the past few years, and for whatever reason, they finally accepted the commitment of baptism! It was so awesome, because they had become one of those nonmember families that loves the missionaries but doesn't really have any intention to investigate the Church. But then everything worked out, and now we baptized a family! I learned that the Lord, and not the missionaries, prepares people to learn about and accept the gospel. We just did what we're supposed to do, Cristiane and Fernando did what they needed to do, and the Lord did the rest.

I just remembered that there are three people getting baptized in the photos that I'm sending. The woman who's a bit older is Fernando's mother, who was also baptized. She lives in a nearby city, though, so we didn't have anything to do with her conversion. In a crazy turn of events, she was gradually converted in large part because of a sister who made phone calls to her from the Salt Lake Temple Square Mission because Fernando (the member kid who's living in Utah) gave his grandma's address to some sisters. It's nuts how all of this fell into place -- it was a miracle, really.

And now for something completely different: I will be bearing my final testimony at my last zone conference ever tomorrow. My mission president is only going to hold zone conference once every three months or so, so the next zone conference will occur shortly after I go home. I guess it's a little silly to bear your final testimony three months before you go home, but it's still somewhat significant, I think. It's crazy to think that the end is coming. I'm trying not to think about it and just dedicate everything to the Lord, and it's working so far. I haven't even been thinking that much about home lately.

So, the mission goes on. This week was insanely stressful because of the baptism (I probably aged twenty years on Saturday night), but it was a good week of work. My comp and I are doing well. I wear shoes now! Woo! And I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon.

To close, here's a scripture that everyone probably knows that I like a lot:

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God" (Ether 12:4).

Faith points to the future! A real application of the gospel of Jesus Christ makes the world a better place, even if that world is only as big as the one person you helped. The Church is true, and I love being a missionary. The Savior lives, and he loves us. I love you!

--Elder Wiggins

P.S. If I look fat in either of the pictures, it's just the angle of the photo. Ahem.

Gray light, new day leaks through the window

April 11, 2011

Hey guys!

This week in Américo Brasiliense was pretty slow. We actually spent a good amount of time going to and coming from Araraquara because I finally wised up and went to a foot doctor (that's "podólogo" in Portuguese; I don't remember what it is in English) in the city. The mission's health plan apparently doesn't cover podólogos, so I had to pay 60 reais for her to cut my toe up again. It was completely worth it, though. She cut the side of my toenail that had become ingrown since my surgery in December and took out that part of the nail. It didn't hurt because she numbed it somehow, and as soon as we got back home that day, I was already allowed to use shoes! I guess I stopped updating you guys on the sandals situation, but I had been using black socks and sandals for a good couple months until a nurse at the health clinic told me to use flip flops. So I was using flip flops for the last week and a half or so. And then, in one day, the foot doctor fixed everything. Like, I'm wearing shoes right now. It is so awesome! I'm like a real missionary again!

So yeah, it looks like I'll be good for at least the rest of my mission as long as I don't mess something up and cut my toenails weird. I'm so glad that I don't have to worry about such a frustratingly stupid problem anymore.

I also got my package from Mom. Thank you! It was really nice to get all that Easter candy and stuff!

As far as the work is concerned here, it's going slow. Like, really slow. I don't know what it is, but it just seems like something is in our way. I don't get it, but we're going to work hard to get new people to teach. Because we don't have hardly anyone right now. My mission president is instituting a new standard in the mission where we need to knock at least 75 doors a week. I have never particularly enjoyed knocking doors, nor have I had any success with knocking doors, so I'm just trying to swallow my pride and trust in my mission president. We'll see if anything comes of it this week.

I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon in Portuguese. I was originally reading ten pages a day so that I could finish it last transfer, but it turned out to be a pretty lofty goal. So now I'm reading five pages a day, and I'll finish before the end of this transfer. I'm currently reading in Mormon, where it talks about how the Nephites and Lamanites became wicked. Something that I noticed as I've been reading, especially in the early chapters of 3 Nephi and these chapters in Mormon, is that the Lord always, even until the very last moment, allows people to repent of their sins and be purified by the Atonement. It struck me how merciful God is, and how the power of the Atonement is applicable even to people who commit the most horrible of sins. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone can repent always. It's so amazing!

I love all of you! I hope you're doing well! The Church is true!

luv

Elder Wiggins

The images stuck in your head

April 4, 2011

So, general conference was wonderful. I didn't get to watch the whole thing because we weren't able to get it in English on Saturday because of technical problems, but I got to watch the Priesthood Session and both sessions on Sunday. It was so good! Seriously, every single talk was so powerful and spiritually moving. I loved how every time general conference comes around, I feel a renewed sense of duty and a desire to live the gospel of Jesus Christ more fully and more diligently. I hope you guys enjoyed it, too!

I took care of my BYU registration. President gave me permission to go on BYU's website on Friday and just take care of everything myself. I'm taking an English class (for the Civilization requirement), Portuguese, New Testament, Biology, and Physical Science. Assuming I don't screw anything up, I will be just about done with my generals at the end of this semester, so I guess I'll have to figure out what I want to major in soon. I also have to figure out where I want to live and with whom, and where to work and everything, but I'm trying not to let any of this stuff distract me. But anyway, as far as registration for classes is concerned, I'm all set.

That's really all that happened this week. We were just working hard until conference came, and now it has passed. Not much else to talk about, so I won't bother.

I hope you're all doing well! Let me know what's going on in your lives! I love you! The Church is true!

luv

elder wiggins

I woke up with this song in my head this morning

March 28, 2011

Hey família.

This week was pretty normal. We walked a lot. My companion came down with a pretty strong cold, took some medicine, and got better. Somewhere in there, I also got pretty sick, but I too took some medicine and got better. We lost a day of work because of that.

We're just kind of putting our li'l shoulders to the whill and pushun' right along (read that in Jimmy Stewart's voice).

Dadal and Elen were both confirmed at sacrament meeting yesterday. Woo! Things are moving out here. And they're both strong and firm in the church now. They really were converted de verdade. It has been really cool to participate in their conversion, even in such a small way.

Last night we had dinner with Cristiane and Fernando, that couple I mentioned a few weeks ago whose son is currently living in Utah. They've been going to church for the last few weeks in another ward, and we haven't had very much contact with them since they were just kind of being our friends instead of actually investigating the Church. I still don't really know how it happened, but Fernando expressed interest last night in being baptized. We started chatting about the Church and why they have been going and everything, and he just kind of blurted it out. Cristiane is a little more hesitant because she doesn't think she's ready to change yet. Buuuuuut, now they have agreed to let us go by there with the clear intent to prepare them for baptism. This could be huge. I think it would be awesome if their son baptized them when he comes home next month. We'll see what happens.

That's pretty much it for this week. We're just trying to find new people to teach and stuff. I'll try to think of something more interesting to write about next week, kay?

Oh, I have to register for BYU classes on Friday. My mission president said I could just do it all here, but I don't know what I want to study or major in or anything, and I'm a little stressed out and nervous about signing up for classes. Any help?

I'll send you guys a few photos to make this email cooler.

The first one is of me making a matter-of-fact, Jim-from-The-Office face when I made a year and six months.

The second one is from when we were walking back to Américo from a nearby city called Santa Lúcia. We ended up getting a ride from a member who drove by.

Okay, I love you guys! The Church is true! I'm happy, and I hope you are too!

luv

elder wiggins

From one morning to the next

March 21, 2011

Today is Américo Brasiliense's anniversary, so the whole city is shut down. My comp and I took the bus to Araraquara, ate at Subway (there's one close by, can you believe it?!), and now we're doing the email thing. How are all you guys doing back home? I imagine that it's starting to warm up a little bit back in the real world, but here in the Matrix it's starting to cool off.

Big news this week: Transfers are today! Woo! But my companion and I are both staying in Américo, so it turned out pretty anticlimactic; actually, almost our entire zone stayed where they were, so there's that. Elder Harris, my companion from around Christmastime who is now a financial secretary, called me at 6:40 this morning and told me I was being emergency transferred. But then it turned out to be an unsavory joke. So, we're all still here.

Much bigger news: we baptized yesterday! Woo! Na verdade, for the first time in my mission, we baptized two people on the same day! We baptized Dadal, that woman that I mentioned last week, and a fifteen-year-old girl named Elen.

It was actually pretty insane because Dadal has a bunch of family members in the Church and has seen tons of missionaries come and go over the years. She has even been to General Conference (only two more weeks, by the way!) and to some branch activities here. I honestly don't know what we did differently than any other elders -- if we did anything differently in the first place -- I guess Dadal's time to get baptized had simply come. Dunno. It was really cool, though.

It's also pretty cool how we came into contact with Elen. We were just walking around the city and making contacts during our first or second week here, and I walked by a big morena lady (is it politically incorrect to call her "black"? I don't remember anymore) and said hi to her. She said hello back and was so nice that I just kind of did a 180 and contacted her. That lady's name is Maria (surprise), and Elen is her granddaughter. It turns out that Elen already knew quite a few of the branch members, so it all worked out really well. And now we're going to try to go after the rest of the family. It's just hard because their family, just like everyone else's, is not very united; at least, it's almost impossible to find everyone at home at the same time.

There was actually a third baptism yesterday, but it kind of fell apart. And I still kind of feel like it was my fault. There's a family in the branch whose son Lucas is eight years old and still hadn't been baptized. We had to go and teach him a few things so he could get baptized this week. I'm guessing he chose me to baptize him because there's no father in the family; I don't know why else he would have picked me. Anyway, we were the last ones in the "baptismal font" (it's a small, above-ground pool) yesterday. The water was pretty cold, and when I baptized Lucas, a tiny little part of his head didn't quite go under. And I think he got water up his nose. Anyway, we had to do it again, but as soon as he came out of the water, he said he didn't want to do it again and everyone tried to convince him to just do it really fast but he just wouldn't and I felt really embarrassed and I'm sorry! Anyway, I guess someone will have to baptize him this coming Sunday.

Elder Gillespie always said that there's no such thing as a perfect baptism, and it's really true. The little fiasco with Lucas kind of put a damper on the two baptisms we did have. But now I'm deciding to try and just shake it off. Sei lá.

Did you guys know that President Obama is in Brasil? He was, anyway. Don't know if he still is. People have been talking about it quite a bit.

Anyway, that was this week. Oh, I also made a year and six months this week. But I think I talked about that in my last email. It wasn't that big a deal. I have been on my mission for a long time.

That's all. I love you guys! Tchauzão!

booga

Man, it passes right by me, it's behind me, now it's gone

March 14, 2011

Oi família, tudo bem! How are you guys doing today?

This week was pretty great, I think. Our work here in Américo has been improving a lot. It helps that the rain has stopped -- I had never seen so much water in my life! And it stopped at just the right time, because the umbrella that I bought about two weeks ago is already destroyed. Bummer. Anyway, it has been much easier for us to get around and teach people, and we actually have some investigators that are progressing.

Dadal is the mother of two young girls who are members of the Church, and she is also related to a few other members of the branch. The branch president challenged her to be baptized, so we have been teaching her like crazy. And she accepted baptism for this Sunday! Woo! She's going to be interviewed on Thursday! Woo!

Cristiane and Fernando are a thirtysomething couple who have been taught a few times by multiple missionaries over the course of the last few years. They have a sixteen-year-old son who is a member and currently living in UTAH. I guess he managed to get a six-month visa and has been there since November. He loves os States so much that he wants to study at BYU after he graduates. Fernando and Cristiane are about the nicest people I've ever met -- I have still have never been to their house without being offered dinner. We're trying to help them progress and gain testimonies and get baptized and all that other important stuff. It's hard to teach them because they are already the missionaries' permanent friends, but we'll see what happens.

So yeah, I'm still the branch organist. I want to start giving piano lessons to people, but it's hard to find the time for that kind of thing. I have been getting Mococa flashbacks (that was my first area) because the organ here is the same piece of junk that they had there. It's not even a full keyboard; it's kind of split in the middle and stacked crookedly one half on top of the other. And it sounds like an old Nintendo. But the members of the branch here sing nice and loud, so you can hardly notice that the accompaniment sounds like an old Megaman soundtrack.

All is well comigo. We're working hard and getting stuff done. Don't tell anyone, but in two days I will hit the year and a half mark on my mission. Does that just blow your mind into a million pieces?! I'm trying not to think about time, because I don't want to go home. Also, when do I need to register for BYU? Tell me if you want, or don't.

I love you! The Church is true!

luv

booga

I am waiting 'til I don't know when, 'cause I'm sure it's gonna happen then

March 7, 2011

This week was nuts, sabe porquê? Because it hasn't stopped raining for the last eight days. I don't know what rainy days are like for missionaries who have cars, but for us walkers it's kind of a pain. Like, it's really, really hard to do missionary work in the rain because there aren't any people in the street to talk to, and when you get to people's houses, they don't want to let you in because you're all wet. My raincoat has been getting some good exercise. My companion and I were kind of imprisoned for a while because neither of us had umbrellas -- I accidentally left mine in Birigui, my last area. We both bought cool umbrellas with the little hook handle at the bottom and a huge metal spike at the top.

Anyway, the work has been going really slow. I'm in a good mood today, but this week was kind of a downer. Our current investigators are all getting really flaky with us, and we're not really finding any new ones. The members here are really cool, though, and I'm liking our area a lot. I'm still getting used to having a big area. In the last three areas that I worked in, you could go from one end to the other pretty quickly. Here in Américo, we have to be smart about how we plan because it takes forever to get from one place to another.

I'm a little behind on my Livro de Mórmon reading. I've been meaning to finish Alma for a few days now. Fun fact: "Alma" means "soul" in Portuguese. That's kind of cool, right? Anyway, I've been pounding through the war chapters lately. It isn't the easiest part of the Book of Mormon because there is so much discussion about strategy and defensive tactics and stuff, but it's still interesting. I was impressed by how often it talks about how the Nephites were successful in battle because they prepared themselves beforehand and were dressed in strong armor. And I love the story of the two thousand stripling warriors (duh), even though reading about them makes me miss Mom.

Elder Nobre and I are still getting along well. I'm glad to have him as my companion. He has a way of talking to people and getting them to like us that I just don't have. I guess I still need to learn how to come out of my shell. Que saco.

So yeah, this week was pretty uneventful. I'm doing well, though, and I'm happy. Trying to stay focused. Trying to talk to strangers. I love you guys, and I hope you're doing well! The Church is true, sabia?

luv

elder wiggins