Wow, I really can't believe its been a whole week since I last sent a message. I know all missionaries say this, but it really just feels like yesterday. It's something I heard all the time on blogs before the mission, but really never grasped exactly how it would feel. Cool.
Before I begin, a little business; Mom, I got your package! Sweet! I loved it! I can't believe how fast it got to me! Cool! Man, I was so feeling the love after that was opened.
Connor in the Halloween costume Mom sent
(the glow-in-the-dark eyeglasses)
He came up with rest and is now...
the Amazing Twinkletoes!
Also, yes, please just attach a photo of my baptism, and I can print it out. No problem. Also, I’d like to request some more photos :) : a picture of our whole family that isn’t so ‘preppy’; a lot of people here want to see pictures of my family, and I’m always a bit ashamed to show them the only photo I have, the same photo we have in the living room, because I’m teaching some very poor people. We’re talking no heated water or air conditioning or heating or carpet, 3-room-house and watch-out-for-that-cockroach-because-there’s-cracks-in-the-wall. Actually, only about half of our people are like that, but they do spend a lot of time talking about how rich I am after seeing the photo, so another would be cool. Your choice :) .
Where to start… The work is going forward. Elder Losee and I have been teaching a family of two, single mother Christina and her 11 year old son Bruno, and they have been really progressing, coming to church two weeks consecutively, although they still feel like they haven’t gotten an answer as to whether the Book of Mormon is true. They say the feel really happy when they read the book, but I guess they aren’t recognizing those feelings as the Spirit. We’ve been explaining it more, and I hope that tomorrow they have a solid answer for us. You know, in 3rd Nephi, verse 11 it took the people 3 times before they understood the voice that was coming out of heaven.
Our other family that I am SOOO excited about is a 7 person family Celson (Dad), Luciani (Mom), Jezemo (11), Rahana (9), twin Matteus and Lucas (7), and Rafael (5). They had investigated the church before and then got sidetracked, but Luciani started reading the BoM a week before I arrived, and she said she knew that we would visit soon because of this, and we did happen to stop by, and they were interested again! I am also really stressed out about this family because they aren’t married (although they really want to be), and they are chronic smokers (and they want to quit, but are doubtful that it’s possible). On Sunday Luciani accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 27th, and Celson accepted the invitation to be married. What we are trying to work on now is getting all the papers, money, and organization together for the marriage, while simultaneously trying to figure out a way to help them stop smoking, and we are really trying to get Celson to the point where he will want to be baptized as well. They are such a fun family, but have recently fallen on rough times, and they have the desire to change, but are under the chains of addiction right now. I absolutely love the family and am yearning so much for them to come into the church together, but it’s not a sure thing, I think, that it’ll work out… It’s high stakes, high risk. We’re spending a lot of time on them right now, and I hope it’ll turn out right. We are really focusing on having faith that God will send them strength and vision for the future. We did a fast for them yesterday, and right after we stopped fasting, we had lunch at a members house, a couple, both converts, who quit smoking and got married to join the church, who agreed to visit Celson and Luciani’s house with us on Thursday, and were quite excited to do so! I am so excited for that to happen!
"Mai Passo Fundo"
Oh, I am running out of minutes in the LAN house I’m using for the internet, so I will send this one off really quick. Another one soon, promise!
Elder Con
---an hour and 1/2 later ------
oi! mais!
Hey Family,
Actually, I didn't have as much time logged on as I thought. Sorry.
Anyway, right after I wrote about how I was doing last week, I started having a really hard week. It gets super hot here (95 degrees yesterday!), and we walk in the sun long distances, and the humidity is killer. The hardest thing is that saudade (longing , homesickness) is really hitting me hard, now that I know that this is what I'll be doing for the next two years. There's been some difficult parts of this for sure, but I hope you don’t mind that I kind of keep that part of the mission on the down low. It's just not something I like to dwell on. However, I'll speak a little bit about it every so often.
He says "I did this myself !"
Oh, parents, send me photos of Brendon in his new area. Send him my photos too.
I've been thinking a lot about all my family, but thank you especially to Uncle Todd for his e-mail, which helped me know how good I actually had it here. Nick and Zach, I used your scriptures in a lesson with a family! Doing missionary work is easy for you guys, isn’t it? I also loved the descriptions of the media going on back home, thanks so much! It helps.
To Brendon: How has your area been? How have you been excelling? Any surprises? I also put together a diagram of profetas (prophets) and how they each communicated from God to the people on earth, just like was mentioned in the section about teaching principles. I will make a picture of the temple with the 5 parts too, later. There is much to do, especially in contacting more people and figuring out how I can persuade my trainer to spend less time at members houses eating. Luckily, people have been very accepting here. We’ve got a bunch of addresses to contact, and a moderate pool of investigators. Still, I’ve really been troubled mostly about not pushing myself as hard as I could. This is hard because it’s very easy in our companionship for me not to do anything, or do much less than I’m capable of doing. So that’s what I'm working on. We are spending a lot of time cleaning the house, getting organized… I’m waking up 30 minutes early each morning for extra language study, and I’m listening to the Book of Mormon on my ipod while I make food in the morning. Oh, and I’m hiding little cards with a personalized thank you and a spiritual message in each house that I eat in. That has really been a success and I suggest you do it too. It’s hard to do the work the way I want to when so much still depends on my understanding of the language. I’m really trying to get that obstacle out of the way. Brendon, don’t be afraid of being a hero. Go all out, despite anyone else. The only person you are serving is your God, so you don’t have to hold yourself back here. Don’t be afraid of what others might think because of your ambition and desire to excel. This is advice I’m really trying to take, myself. In my area, poeple are all pretty chill as long as you act like a naïve yet outgoing American. Making fun of myself also seems to really help break the ice. The heat and humidity are killer, but I bet you’ve got it worse. The food is amazing and I hope it’s good where you are too. I love you bro! Keep it up! I’m thinking of you constantly!
To my Kaitlin: Your costume was beautiful! Wow, what a princess! Did people think you were a real Indian? I love you so much and your picture was so pretty! I hope you enjoyed Halloween!
To my Lynsey! Thank you so much for the letter! I haven’t read all of it, but I will answer your request to speak Portuguese: Amo minha irma muito, e eu penso sobre ela todos dos meus tempos aqui. Ela é um moça linda e é cheio de luz. Muito obrigado por suas palavras, eu vou desfrutar eles muito. Eu amo você Lynsey, e eu sou grato por que você é minha irmã. Seja forte, né? Até mais.
Mom: I feel close to you so much. Thank you for the letter. It strengthens me.
Dad: Hey buddy! I love you so much, and I think of you often. Stay strong. I know the Lord is with you. Be comforted. You are a great father, and a great man, and a great friend, and I want to be like you one day. Thank you for making it possible for me to be out here, in more ways than you might initially think. Com amor.
Love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Con
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