Hi guys.
This week was pretty uneventful. We're still trying to find some good investigators. It's really difficult to find people at home, though, especially right after lunch. Although we have taught a lot of lessons, very few of were to people who sincerely wanted to receive the gospel.
Actually, we did teach one man this week who had wondered why there are so many different churches in the world today (most people just go to the one that's closest to their house, or they go to the Catholic church in the center of the city because it's big and pretty and old and everyone's Catholic so it must be true). But this particular man happens to be illiterate. That's always a tough problem to face, because I think it'd be pretty difficult to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon if you can't read it. He said he would definitely go to church with us this week, but he didn't. Oh, and I think he was a little bit drunk when we taught him. Hungover, maybe.
I heard that there's a lot of rainfall back home. I actually heard that from a Brazilian, so it must be raining a ton if it was on the news down here. It's been raining a lot here, too. As much as I love having a break from the blistering sun (you should see the tanline on my neck), the rain makes missionary work really hard. No one is in the street when it's raining, and no one wants to let you into their house when you look and smell like a wet dog.
We're still having a tough time working with the members and the leadership here. We had an activity this Friday that produced a pretty good turnout. There's a sixteen-year-old member named Marco who basically does everything here. He goes along with us almost every day to teach people, and he shoulders the burden of planning and carrying out all the activities because there isn't an activities committee here for some reason. This week's activity turned out pretty well -- we just played games and ate some refreshments at the end. I took a bunch of pictures while we were there so we could make a poster the next day and put it on the church bulletin board. We're trying to make the activities more visible to everyone so that people will want to go. Anyway, we put the poster up on Saturday. I asked Marco yesterday if he thought the poster was a success, and he said that the branch president was irritated about it because we didn't ask for his permission before we put it up.
I'm just trying to do my best, I swear! I think my companion and I are going to meet with the branch president this week so that we can talk to him about everything. It will probably be a little tempting to voice my frustration and criticize him and the other leaders, but my companion and I talked a little about it last night. We're just going to continue to have an attitude of helpfulness and fulfill our responsibilities.
Anyway, in case you can't tell, things were pretty slow this week. Hoping I get my Christmas package at zone conference on Thursday.
The Church is true,
elder wigginz
Monday, January 25, 2010
You've got to envision the fiery crash
Remember Adriana, that investigator I talked about last week? She doesn't want anything to do with us. We passed by her house every day this week, but she was never home, and she stoped answering our calls. We went to her house on Wednesday and found out from her father that her son-in-law had been involved in a serious motorcycle accident. They spent the night in another city because the hospital here in Leme didn't have the appropriate accomodations for them. We went back the next day to visit with her and try to mark a baptismal interview, but everything went wrong. We walked up to the gate (every house in Brazil has a gate) and saw Adriana talking with her daughter and a friend. She was smoking. When she saw us, she quickly went inside her house. After a moment, her friend came out of the front door holding the two copies of the Book of Mormon and the Gospel Principles manual we had left with her. She told us that Adriana's sister had invited her to go to her church that week. She went and decided that she didn't want anything more from us. Her friend tried to give us the books she was holding, but we told her that they were Adriana's. We didn't have much to say, so we left.
It was devastating. I had heard before I left for Brazil that you experience extreme highs and lows on the mission, but I never really took that seriously. My companion and I didn't know what to do. We had spent so much time teaching this person, inviting her to come to church and to the branch activities, praying for her, and in thirty seconds, everything ended.
I drank two chocolate milkshakes that night (which didn't help, by the way -- I just felt disappointed AND fat).
The other noteworthy event from this week occurred yesterday: I gave my first talk in sacrament meeting. It was a complete fiasco because the branch is so horribly unorganized. The branch president told us during Sunday school that my companion and I would be speaking. He was not sympathetic when we told him that we hadn't prepared anything; apparently the sacrament meeting of every third Sunday here is suppsoed to be devoted to missionary work. Meaning that every third Sunday, the missionaries have to speak so that everyone else can get a break. That might sound cynical, but no one told us in advance that we would be speaking, and our talks suffered from it.
I think my talk itself went all right-- I think everyone understood what I was saying, anyway -- but I was really frustrated by the whole experience. There are plenty of members here who could and should give talks about missionary work, but because no one takes the responsibility to set up sacrament meeting before church on the same day, we had to do it. Blargh.
I'm still doing everything I can to help here. I just feel frustrated because almost all the members seem apathetic towards the Church here. We aren't having a ward family home evening tonight (for the second week in a row) because no one planned one, no one shows up to the activities, no one plans any activities; it's all just really difficult right now. But I'm doing my best and working hard, and I think that's enough.
Anyway, that was this week. We're trying to find some new people to teach because both of our really good investigators have rejected us.
I'm actually pretty happy out here, though, despite how disappointing this week was.
okay bye
booga (is that still my name?)
It was devastating. I had heard before I left for Brazil that you experience extreme highs and lows on the mission, but I never really took that seriously. My companion and I didn't know what to do. We had spent so much time teaching this person, inviting her to come to church and to the branch activities, praying for her, and in thirty seconds, everything ended.
I drank two chocolate milkshakes that night (which didn't help, by the way -- I just felt disappointed AND fat).
The other noteworthy event from this week occurred yesterday: I gave my first talk in sacrament meeting. It was a complete fiasco because the branch is so horribly unorganized. The branch president told us during Sunday school that my companion and I would be speaking. He was not sympathetic when we told him that we hadn't prepared anything; apparently the sacrament meeting of every third Sunday here is suppsoed to be devoted to missionary work. Meaning that every third Sunday, the missionaries have to speak so that everyone else can get a break. That might sound cynical, but no one told us in advance that we would be speaking, and our talks suffered from it.
I think my talk itself went all right-- I think everyone understood what I was saying, anyway -- but I was really frustrated by the whole experience. There are plenty of members here who could and should give talks about missionary work, but because no one takes the responsibility to set up sacrament meeting before church on the same day, we had to do it. Blargh.
I'm still doing everything I can to help here. I just feel frustrated because almost all the members seem apathetic towards the Church here. We aren't having a ward family home evening tonight (for the second week in a row) because no one planned one, no one shows up to the activities, no one plans any activities; it's all just really difficult right now. But I'm doing my best and working hard, and I think that's enough.
Anyway, that was this week. We're trying to find some new people to teach because both of our really good investigators have rejected us.
I'm actually pretty happy out here, though, despite how disappointing this week was.
okay bye
booga (is that still my name?)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Solid Soul and the Blood I Bleed
Congratulations on your new baby boy, Jana and Wes! I can't wait to hear more about how everything is going with that new kid in your house. Our family is growing a lot, in case you didn't notice. This is nuts.
This week was a lot of fun, which means that the work wasn't that great.
Our best investigator, a nineteen-year-old kid named Marcelo (I think I mentioned him last week) doesn't want anything more from us. We brought him to a family home evening activity on Monday and none of the members talked to him. He told us yesterday that he wasn't going to come to church with us because he has more friends in his other church. I guess I can't blame him for not wanting to go to a church where the members aren't (or weren't) very welcoming, but his decision makes me wonder if he really understood the lessons we taught him. Because when you really understand the significance of the Restoration, you realize that there can only be one Church of Jesus Christ. But oh well. I was hoping he would be my first real baptism (in that I would be present at this one), but I guess not.
We've been teaching a woman named Adriana a lot this week. She has already been to church by herself (that is huge) twice, and she has been really receptive to all the lessons. We invited her to come to an activity that the branch was going to have on Saturday at seven o'clock. We arrived at that activity at 7:15 or so because my companion made a cake for everyone. When we got to the chapel, our investigator was there, alone except for her family, and the church was locked. She was getting ready to leave, but we unlocked the chapel and invited them in. One member family showed up with a few friends at around 8 o'clock, so we were able to have an activity. I think our investigators enjoyed themselves, but it was pretty ridiculous that she showed up on time and that the chapel would have remained locked for an hour after the activity started if it wasn't for us.
I think we're going to be working hard this week and for the rest of the transfer to involve the members more in the missionary work. If nothing else, we need to get them excited to help. People seem pretty apathetic about activities and really welcoming investigators to the church. You would think that the members here would be able to sympathize with investigators because they were in the same position at one point, but so far it hasn't worked out that way. Blargh.
But we had some fun this week doing some genuinely Brazilian things. My companion and I went with a member to the zoo. It didn't cost anything to get in, so the premises were unsurprisingly pretty dumpy. It was as if someone had thrown up some brick walls and chain link fences in a thicky Brazilian forest and called it a zoo. It was cool, though. We saw a hippo, some toucans, monkeys, lions, tigers, and elefants. We took some great photos, so I'll have to show them to you in two years or whatever.
We also spent one night learning capoeira (that's the Brazilian fighting style that looks like breakdancing) from a guy who some elders used to be teaching. It was so cool to watch him go all over the place doing cartwheels and somersaults. I wasn't quite as graceful. My companion and I were falling all over the tile floor of the church, but we were both able to do some of the basic movements after an hour or so. Capoeira is probably the coolest thing that is unique to Brazil, so you should go watch some Youtube videos of people doing it or something.
But yeah, that's all. I'm doing well and feeling a lot more comfortable speaking Portuguese and teaching and everything. I love all of you quite a bit and hope you're doing well!
okay
booga
This week was a lot of fun, which means that the work wasn't that great.
Our best investigator, a nineteen-year-old kid named Marcelo (I think I mentioned him last week) doesn't want anything more from us. We brought him to a family home evening activity on Monday and none of the members talked to him. He told us yesterday that he wasn't going to come to church with us because he has more friends in his other church. I guess I can't blame him for not wanting to go to a church where the members aren't (or weren't) very welcoming, but his decision makes me wonder if he really understood the lessons we taught him. Because when you really understand the significance of the Restoration, you realize that there can only be one Church of Jesus Christ. But oh well. I was hoping he would be my first real baptism (in that I would be present at this one), but I guess not.
We've been teaching a woman named Adriana a lot this week. She has already been to church by herself (that is huge) twice, and she has been really receptive to all the lessons. We invited her to come to an activity that the branch was going to have on Saturday at seven o'clock. We arrived at that activity at 7:15 or so because my companion made a cake for everyone. When we got to the chapel, our investigator was there, alone except for her family, and the church was locked. She was getting ready to leave, but we unlocked the chapel and invited them in. One member family showed up with a few friends at around 8 o'clock, so we were able to have an activity. I think our investigators enjoyed themselves, but it was pretty ridiculous that she showed up on time and that the chapel would have remained locked for an hour after the activity started if it wasn't for us.
I think we're going to be working hard this week and for the rest of the transfer to involve the members more in the missionary work. If nothing else, we need to get them excited to help. People seem pretty apathetic about activities and really welcoming investigators to the church. You would think that the members here would be able to sympathize with investigators because they were in the same position at one point, but so far it hasn't worked out that way. Blargh.
But we had some fun this week doing some genuinely Brazilian things. My companion and I went with a member to the zoo. It didn't cost anything to get in, so the premises were unsurprisingly pretty dumpy. It was as if someone had thrown up some brick walls and chain link fences in a thicky Brazilian forest and called it a zoo. It was cool, though. We saw a hippo, some toucans, monkeys, lions, tigers, and elefants. We took some great photos, so I'll have to show them to you in two years or whatever.
We also spent one night learning capoeira (that's the Brazilian fighting style that looks like breakdancing) from a guy who some elders used to be teaching. It was so cool to watch him go all over the place doing cartwheels and somersaults. I wasn't quite as graceful. My companion and I were falling all over the tile floor of the church, but we were both able to do some of the basic movements after an hour or so. Capoeira is probably the coolest thing that is unique to Brazil, so you should go watch some Youtube videos of people doing it or something.
But yeah, that's all. I'm doing well and feeling a lot more comfortable speaking Portuguese and teaching and everything. I love all of you quite a bit and hope you're doing well!
okay
booga
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Fondness makes the absence longer
My first week in Leme was pretty great, thanks to the AMAZING BIRTHDAY PACKAGE I received on Tuesday (we had district meeting the day after I sent my email last week). Everything in that beautiful box was absolutely perfect. I already ate most of the candy because most Brazilian candy sucks (they sell Halls cough drops as candy here, not even kidding). I love the slippers and the tie and the Silly Putty (thanks, Sam!) and that everything was wrapped up! And I have real deodorant again! Seriously, I can't even tell you how nice it is to have some of the most common things from back home. I never thought I would miss Old Spice, but there you go.
I think I'm going to just hang on to the birthday decorations until my next birthday because it would be hard to do any of that stuff here. Does cake mix last that long? It was still super nice to get all of that.
I haven't received my Christmas package yet, but I'm sure I'll get it when we have interviews with the president next week. I was just glad to get the stuff I did, honestly. Thanks Mom! Sorry if this has been boring to read, everyone else!
I actually received two other packages from Sister Snow that day, and a few letters from friends; I guess my mail had been pretty backed up. Sister Snow sent me the nicest little package with candy, Kool-Aid, and a Christmas card. And she sent another envelope with two pairs of socks that she forgot to put in the first package. I think that demonstrates her kindness pretty well; anyone else probably would have just given the socks to someone else or something. I already sent her a thank you card.
The work was slow this week because of the holidays. On New Year's Day, the streets were deserted but somehow no one was at home, either. That continued on Saturday and Sunday as well. Holidays are pretty rough out here because all I want to do is take a break like everyone else. And it's easy to imagine what everyone back home is doing. But my companion and I did our best to find and teach people, and we had some success. We are teaching a nineteen-year-old boy named Marcelo. He's kind of a nerd like me, so we're practically best buddies at this point. We taught him the Plan of Salvation this week, and unlike the vast majority of people, he actually seemed to understand it. We were really excited to continue teaching him so that he could hopefully be baptized this Sunday, but he spent New Year's in a neighboring city and thus wasn't able to go to church yesterday. We're going to keep working hard with him because he's our best investigator right now.
Other than Marcelo, we haven't had much success with investigators who are progressing this week. I think it's just the holidays, though. Now that people are getting back into the grind of daily life, we should be able to find a few who want to welcome us.
My Portuguese is getting a lot better. I've been thinking a lot about what Mom mentioned on Christmas about perfectionism. I realized that I was so worried about speaking perfectly all the time that I was usually silent during my first transfer. I'm making a concerted effort to open my mouth and join the conversation here. And it's working! When I study the language and exercise faith that I'm doing the Lord's work, things go much smoother.
My companion is awesome. I initially thought that he had a bad attitude because he is frustrated with a lot of what happens out here, but I think he's serving for the right reasons. We've talked a lot about the attitude that many missionaries in Brazil have concerning baptisms; that it's all about numbers, that the people don't really matter much. Though I haven't seen it very much myself yet, the numbers game is apparently a big problem out here.
But my companion is a cool guy, and I think we would be friends even if we had met outside the mission. He is easy to talk to, and he's one of the reasons that this week was as enjoyable as it was.
I guess I'll stop now. I love all of you and wish you the best for this week.
ta ta fuh nah
elder booga
I think I'm going to just hang on to the birthday decorations until my next birthday because it would be hard to do any of that stuff here. Does cake mix last that long? It was still super nice to get all of that.
I haven't received my Christmas package yet, but I'm sure I'll get it when we have interviews with the president next week. I was just glad to get the stuff I did, honestly. Thanks Mom! Sorry if this has been boring to read, everyone else!
I actually received two other packages from Sister Snow that day, and a few letters from friends; I guess my mail had been pretty backed up. Sister Snow sent me the nicest little package with candy, Kool-Aid, and a Christmas card. And she sent another envelope with two pairs of socks that she forgot to put in the first package. I think that demonstrates her kindness pretty well; anyone else probably would have just given the socks to someone else or something. I already sent her a thank you card.
The work was slow this week because of the holidays. On New Year's Day, the streets were deserted but somehow no one was at home, either. That continued on Saturday and Sunday as well. Holidays are pretty rough out here because all I want to do is take a break like everyone else. And it's easy to imagine what everyone back home is doing. But my companion and I did our best to find and teach people, and we had some success. We are teaching a nineteen-year-old boy named Marcelo. He's kind of a nerd like me, so we're practically best buddies at this point. We taught him the Plan of Salvation this week, and unlike the vast majority of people, he actually seemed to understand it. We were really excited to continue teaching him so that he could hopefully be baptized this Sunday, but he spent New Year's in a neighboring city and thus wasn't able to go to church yesterday. We're going to keep working hard with him because he's our best investigator right now.
Other than Marcelo, we haven't had much success with investigators who are progressing this week. I think it's just the holidays, though. Now that people are getting back into the grind of daily life, we should be able to find a few who want to welcome us.
My Portuguese is getting a lot better. I've been thinking a lot about what Mom mentioned on Christmas about perfectionism. I realized that I was so worried about speaking perfectly all the time that I was usually silent during my first transfer. I'm making a concerted effort to open my mouth and join the conversation here. And it's working! When I study the language and exercise faith that I'm doing the Lord's work, things go much smoother.
My companion is awesome. I initially thought that he had a bad attitude because he is frustrated with a lot of what happens out here, but I think he's serving for the right reasons. We've talked a lot about the attitude that many missionaries in Brazil have concerning baptisms; that it's all about numbers, that the people don't really matter much. Though I haven't seen it very much myself yet, the numbers game is apparently a big problem out here.
But my companion is a cool guy, and I think we would be friends even if we had met outside the mission. He is easy to talk to, and he's one of the reasons that this week was as enjoyable as it was.
I guess I'll stop now. I love all of you and wish you the best for this week.
ta ta fuh nah
elder booga
Monday, December 28, 2009
Broken down like a war economy - Dec. 25, 2009
Feliz natal, everyone!I know I already talked to all of you today, but I still wanted to tell all of you that I love you. I enjoyed the time we had on the phone together, although it was short. It was a good reminder that you're all still there, that there are some people in this world who know what I'm really like, and that Jana forgave me for eating John's Snickers bar (sorry). I don't have much to say to all of you that I didn't already, so I think I'll just send some photos for Mom and Dad's new frame.
Merry Christmas! Feliz Natal!Oh, only thing. Dad: I don't know if anyone reads the blog, but I think that would be a great way to get some people's addresses. They (assuming there is a "they") could just post their address in the comments and you could forward them to me. I want to stay in touch with people from back home. Gimme yr addresses!
Okay, that's all. I hope you enjoy your delicious Christmas dinner and feel just a tiny bit guilty that I might not have a real meal tonight! Just kidding. What?
okay bye
booga
All the clouds have silver linings - Dec. 14, 2009
SUP.
I had my first baptism yesterday! Hooray! Carol, one of those two girls who I mentioned last week, came to church with us and decided to be baptized later that day. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to see it; in fact, I didn't even know she was baptized until after I came home for the night.
The zone leaders are staying with us for a few days, so we're doing divisions until they leave. I spent my whole day making contacts with another elder and a member, and none of us had a cell phone at the time. We came home before my actual companion, who showed me a picture of him and the girl in baptismal attire and congratulated me on my first baptism. Fart.
I'm not really upset about it, but I wish I could have at least been there for it. Oh well. It's more important that she chose to be baptized than that I wasn't there to witness it.
Other than that, my week was pretty normal. Kind of. It's hard to compress my week into one email because the days are so long and packed with events. But, a few things of note:
We had interviews with my mission president on Tuesday in Pirassununga. We took a bus to the chapel there, where I stumbled through my interview. It was rough. He doesn't speak a whole lot of English, so he just asked me some simple questions. I felt discouraged, though, because I don't have any missionary friends here yet (we met up with our zone, and I didn't know anyone) and I couldn't even communicate with my mission president, who is supposed to strengthen and counsel me.
Then we took a bus back home. Thing is, we had to stop and switch buses in a town called Aguaí. The bus that we were supposed to take was coming from São Paulo, which was experiencing heavy rainfall at the time. Our bus couldn't make it, and a new one wouldn't show up until 6 that night. So we spent five hours or so making contacts with people. We didn't have any of our proselyting stuff (copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, etc.) because of interviews. It was almost impossible to make any meaningful contacts because of that. The rain didn't help, either. People don't want to listen to you when it rains, and it rained a lot this week.
My companion ate a salgado (unhealthy stuff inside a pocket of fried bread dough) a few nights ago and became really sick the next day. He did nothing but sleep and puke all day. I gave him a blessing (my first ever!), but it looked like we just had to wait it out. I studied all day (almost read Our Search for Happiness cover to cover) while he recovered.
Oh! Something I forgot to mention last week: I'm kind of the ward (/branch) organist. I played in sacrament meeting last week, and it looks like I will be for the rest of my time here in Mococa. It's terrifying to accompany people right now, but I want to help these people in whatever way I can. And even though I'm not great at playing the piano, I think I may be better at that than Portuguese.
Anyway, all is well here. I appreciate your prayers and love all of you very much.
luv
booga
I had my first baptism yesterday! Hooray! Carol, one of those two girls who I mentioned last week, came to church with us and decided to be baptized later that day. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to see it; in fact, I didn't even know she was baptized until after I came home for the night.
The zone leaders are staying with us for a few days, so we're doing divisions until they leave. I spent my whole day making contacts with another elder and a member, and none of us had a cell phone at the time. We came home before my actual companion, who showed me a picture of him and the girl in baptismal attire and congratulated me on my first baptism. Fart.
I'm not really upset about it, but I wish I could have at least been there for it. Oh well. It's more important that she chose to be baptized than that I wasn't there to witness it.
Other than that, my week was pretty normal. Kind of. It's hard to compress my week into one email because the days are so long and packed with events. But, a few things of note:
We had interviews with my mission president on Tuesday in Pirassununga. We took a bus to the chapel there, where I stumbled through my interview. It was rough. He doesn't speak a whole lot of English, so he just asked me some simple questions. I felt discouraged, though, because I don't have any missionary friends here yet (we met up with our zone, and I didn't know anyone) and I couldn't even communicate with my mission president, who is supposed to strengthen and counsel me.
Then we took a bus back home. Thing is, we had to stop and switch buses in a town called Aguaí. The bus that we were supposed to take was coming from São Paulo, which was experiencing heavy rainfall at the time. Our bus couldn't make it, and a new one wouldn't show up until 6 that night. So we spent five hours or so making contacts with people. We didn't have any of our proselyting stuff (copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, etc.) because of interviews. It was almost impossible to make any meaningful contacts because of that. The rain didn't help, either. People don't want to listen to you when it rains, and it rained a lot this week.
My companion ate a salgado (unhealthy stuff inside a pocket of fried bread dough) a few nights ago and became really sick the next day. He did nothing but sleep and puke all day. I gave him a blessing (my first ever!), but it looked like we just had to wait it out. I studied all day (almost read Our Search for Happiness cover to cover) while he recovered.
Oh! Something I forgot to mention last week: I'm kind of the ward (/branch) organist. I played in sacrament meeting last week, and it looks like I will be for the rest of my time here in Mococa. It's terrifying to accompany people right now, but I want to help these people in whatever way I can. And even though I'm not great at playing the piano, I think I may be better at that than Portuguese.
Anyway, all is well here. I appreciate your prayers and love all of you very much.
luv
booga
Monday, December 7, 2009
The world that you need is wrapped in gold, silver sleeves
Can I just say something really fast? I love all you so much. Seriously. Reading words of encouragement from people who know who I am, who know what I'm like when I can actually communicate, who know my first name, really lifts my spirits.
So, I didn't really do anything special for my birthday. I told a few members at church yesterday that it was my birthday and they congratulated me and pat me on the back. But we spent the rest of the day trying to make contacts in the pouring rain. My companion and I had a meeting with the ward mission leader at the church at 7:30, so we walked (or swam) for a half hour or so through the rain. I've never felt so wet in my life. That might sound gloomy when you read it. I've never felt so wet in my life! Pardon my French, but what the ***, Brazil! This is such a bizarre experience. I am trying to follow the counsel of Elder Wirthlin and learn to laugh when it's tempting to feel crestfallen (Do you remember his talk, "Come what may, and love it"? I think it was the last one he gave in Conference before he passed away. It's one of my favorites.)
My companion and I forgot that yesterday was Fast Sunday, so we started our fast after lunch yesterday. We're going to break it after this, and I think I'll take the opportunity to buy myself a little birthday treat.
Speaking of treats, I tried açaí for the first time this week. It's supposed to have the most antioxidants of any fruit in the world or something. It's super good.
Dad, you asked me to talk a little bit about the church here. The branch is pretty small even though there are enough members here to fill two wards. A lot of the people are inactive. Every Sunday we walk to our investigators house to bring them to church with us. I think that's one of the hardest parts about it out here: very few people own cars, so they have to walk for miles every Sunday to attend church. And if they don't have a strong testimony that this is the only true church of Christ on the earth, why would they make the trek?
The active members are great, though. We eat lunch in a member's house every day, which is awesome. Beans, rice, chicken, salad. Stuff like that. They feed us a ton, and I do my best to express gratitude for it. Also: I have never eaten so much (or, consequently, weighed as much) as I have here in Brazil. After lunch, one of us elders leaves a message for the family. I have been chosen to do it pretty often, which is tough. I'm still struggling with the language, so it's difficult to give a substantial message. But I always bear my testimony and I hope people can at least understand that.
Mococa is a beautiful place. We had a conference this week where Elder Godoy, a member of the Area Seventy, spoke to us. I don't have much to say about the conference itself other than it helped to remind me of my purpose here. But we took a three or four hour bus ride to Ribeirão Preto, and the countryside that we traveled through is just gorgeous. Flat green plains with trees every once in a while for as far as you can see, and the sky! Man, the sunset at the end of the day is something I always look forward to. It's breathtaking.
The city itself isn't quite as beautiful, but I don't mind. The houses, roads, and sidewalks are slowly decaying, but the people don't seem to notice or care. So I try not to, either. The people live in really humble circumstances and many of them still work for hours and hours every day to support themselves. You can learn a lot from their dedication.
Others spend most of their time in bars. I think there are an equal number of bars and churches here. You can't really blame people for being a little disillusioned or confused by the things they have been taught about religion, but it doesn't make the work any easier.
We have been teaching two little girls who were really excited about being baptized, but backed out at the last minute. Their mother and some of their siblings are inactive members, and their house isn't that great of an environment. We lost the support of their mother, and now they say they want to learn more in the gospel before they get baptized. Any tips on how I can help them?
Also, their mother's name is Beth, but it is pronounced "Betch." I still feel a little guilty when I say her name.
This email has been a little profane. Sorry about that. Also sorry about the rambling. But I don't have much time!
Thank you, all of you, for writing me and wishing me a happy birthday. I love you so much and think about you every day (though I am still trying to be focused!).
Until next week,
booga
So, I didn't really do anything special for my birthday. I told a few members at church yesterday that it was my birthday and they congratulated me and pat me on the back. But we spent the rest of the day trying to make contacts in the pouring rain. My companion and I had a meeting with the ward mission leader at the church at 7:30, so we walked (or swam) for a half hour or so through the rain. I've never felt so wet in my life. That might sound gloomy when you read it. I've never felt so wet in my life! Pardon my French, but what the ***, Brazil! This is such a bizarre experience. I am trying to follow the counsel of Elder Wirthlin and learn to laugh when it's tempting to feel crestfallen (Do you remember his talk, "Come what may, and love it"? I think it was the last one he gave in Conference before he passed away. It's one of my favorites.)
My companion and I forgot that yesterday was Fast Sunday, so we started our fast after lunch yesterday. We're going to break it after this, and I think I'll take the opportunity to buy myself a little birthday treat.
Speaking of treats, I tried açaí for the first time this week. It's supposed to have the most antioxidants of any fruit in the world or something. It's super good.
Dad, you asked me to talk a little bit about the church here. The branch is pretty small even though there are enough members here to fill two wards. A lot of the people are inactive. Every Sunday we walk to our investigators house to bring them to church with us. I think that's one of the hardest parts about it out here: very few people own cars, so they have to walk for miles every Sunday to attend church. And if they don't have a strong testimony that this is the only true church of Christ on the earth, why would they make the trek?
The active members are great, though. We eat lunch in a member's house every day, which is awesome. Beans, rice, chicken, salad. Stuff like that. They feed us a ton, and I do my best to express gratitude for it. Also: I have never eaten so much (or, consequently, weighed as much) as I have here in Brazil. After lunch, one of us elders leaves a message for the family. I have been chosen to do it pretty often, which is tough. I'm still struggling with the language, so it's difficult to give a substantial message. But I always bear my testimony and I hope people can at least understand that.
Mococa is a beautiful place. We had a conference this week where Elder Godoy, a member of the Area Seventy, spoke to us. I don't have much to say about the conference itself other than it helped to remind me of my purpose here. But we took a three or four hour bus ride to Ribeirão Preto, and the countryside that we traveled through is just gorgeous. Flat green plains with trees every once in a while for as far as you can see, and the sky! Man, the sunset at the end of the day is something I always look forward to. It's breathtaking.
The city itself isn't quite as beautiful, but I don't mind. The houses, roads, and sidewalks are slowly decaying, but the people don't seem to notice or care. So I try not to, either. The people live in really humble circumstances and many of them still work for hours and hours every day to support themselves. You can learn a lot from their dedication.
Others spend most of their time in bars. I think there are an equal number of bars and churches here. You can't really blame people for being a little disillusioned or confused by the things they have been taught about religion, but it doesn't make the work any easier.
We have been teaching two little girls who were really excited about being baptized, but backed out at the last minute. Their mother and some of their siblings are inactive members, and their house isn't that great of an environment. We lost the support of their mother, and now they say they want to learn more in the gospel before they get baptized. Any tips on how I can help them?
Also, their mother's name is Beth, but it is pronounced "Betch." I still feel a little guilty when I say her name.
This email has been a little profane. Sorry about that. Also sorry about the rambling. But I don't have much time!
Thank you, all of you, for writing me and wishing me a happy birthday. I love you so much and think about you every day (though I am still trying to be focused!).
Until next week,
booga
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