Fixing people
Hello!
So it’s another P-day. I’ve had a very good P-day so far. What made the difference? Elder K. Silva and I woke up early and went jogging to start the day!
Video of Jogging this morning (click here)
We returned to the house, did a bit of cleaning, had lunch, and hit the lanhouse early. So today (much unlike Brendon), I got to just sit back and relax and enjoy my P-day. It’s makes such a difference to wake up on time for P-day. Usually we sleep away our time, but you really don’t need to. Whew.
So today I’m feeling really good not just because of the good P-day. I’m feeling good because I had in mind one picture of this transfer, and it changed completely. So when I started the transfer here in Marau, Elder Silva was happy and cool and we got along well. But after one day of work, Elder Silva changed. Pretty much he just didn’t talk to me. I tried to make conversation and joke around, but he quickly cut off any chance of conversation. So I talked to him about it, and he responded that he wasn’t a fun person, that not a lot of people liked him, that he wasn’t a good missionary, and that he would leave the area next transfer so we didn’t need to get to know eachother. I tried to discuss a bit more than this, but he didn’t go for that. I tried joking around to coax him out of his shell. Didn’t work. So I stopped talking, thinking maybe that he would start to want talking after he realized how the silence was. So for the second week I just did that. We do a lot of walking here in Marau, and walking in silence is horrible. I thought that’s how the transfer would go. I was getting pretty sad. Eventually, I just started to pray during all the silence. I had 2 full days of just constantly praying while walking around with Elder Silva. I wish there was a better climax than this, but one night after an especially hard day (a couple appointments fell through, and we arrived at a family home evening ready to teach an inactive family to find them all riled up after a fight between the parents, with the dad and the dad’s friends all over drinking alcohol and talking about it, and also a son who we were going to baptize drinking too and talking bad about the church… ahem), Elder Silva just started talking to me. Fortunately I was able to put off any possible contention, started talking and joking and conversing with him. He just completely changed. My prayers were answered. I still don’t know what exactly happened, but we’re like good friends now; jogging together, conversing all the time, he’s sharing food with me, taking photos and having fun in the spare moments of the day.
So that happened 3 days ago. These last 3 days have been really great! We have an awesome elect 40-year-old man with a family of 5, Sabino, that we invited to be baptized, and he accepted! We will teach him and help him out to reach this point over the next 3 weeks, and we think the rest of the family will follow after him. We have also been finding some new families, and getting a bunch of references from members! Yeah! So the work is going forward here.
I don’t really have a lot to say about our week other than this. Just little things.
We bought a fake pack of gum that shocks people, which we will playfully use with some members here. We have to be tactful here and not use with anyone who will get mad.
A member loaned me a Book of Mormon in French. I thought it’d be cool if I remembered anything. I didn’t remember anything. What’s cool is that after learning Portuguese, I can actually understand more or less the gist of French! What a cool thing it is to learn a Latin language: learn one and it’s super easy to learn the others! So after discovering this I started to daydream about going to live in France for a little while after the mission, try to pick up another language. It’s a dream I’ve had after our family visited Paris. Cool.
One investigator, Diego, is 21, has a sweet car, sweet house, very pretty girlfriend, goes to parties all the time, goes to a sweet college, and has been learning English with us. He hasn’t wanted anything to do with the gospel, but we’ve become good friends. We thought we were going to have to cut him, because we thought that with all he had in life, that he probably didn’t feel any need for anything else in life. He invited us to his house for an English lesson, and he had his laptop there. He was on youtube, so I told him I had a couple videos there, and we watched the photo reel you guys made, and also my mission call video. I thought that he would’ve gotten bored, but he was completely smiling through all of it. At the end, he said he really liked my family, that they seemed really happy and that we really loved eachother. We started talking about how his parents rarely see him, and how he is an only child and doesn’t really have that much of a family. I told him how our family wasn’t always completely like it was in the videos, and what made the difference. We taught the first lesson again and invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, which we had done before, but this time he was just smiling through all of it and there was a light in his eyes. I was feeling the spirit there with him, unlike the last times we taught him. We’re going to visit him soon to see if he read and got an answer about the Book of Mormon. I just really liked this experience because, even I was thinking that really, Diego had everything anyone would want, but after realizing the difference in our families, I realized that there was something more that he could have in his life. Go family!
I lost my wallet two weeks ago in a bakery in the poorest, most dangerous neighborhood in Passo Fundo. It had my personal and mission bank cards inside. I knew I had lost my wallet, but I simply thought that it was somewhere in the last house I was living in. How did I realize that I had lost my wallet in one of the easiest places to get stolen and have someone suck all the money dry out of both of my accounts? Because a member passed by in that bakery afterwards, who was part of a part-member family that we had been teaching in Boqueirao. The person who worked in the bakery mentioned that the wallet had the name of that members church in it, and the member called up Elder Lima, my old companion, and said that she’d bring the wallet to church last Sunday. So I’ll get my wallet, safe and sound, this Thursday in our district meeting. I was totally praying that I’d find it safe and sound! Sweet!
I hadn’t told you guys, because I was embarrassed, but I’ve been missing my wallet for a month. Before that I hadn’t used any money inside it. So now I’ve accumulated money for 2 transfers in my account. All I can say is that after months of bugetting the little remaining cash and change I had to get by, I’m going to go all out and Elder Silva and I will have a party. We’ll get pizza and icecream and everything. Sweet! I’m looking forward to this a lot.
Okay, I think that’s it. On to some responses!
I loved Kaitlin’s video! Kaitlin, you’re so good at making videos! I really loved it! It was really good! I think it’s really cool that you’re learning Spanish! Actually, Portuguese and Spanish are lot a like, so I will be able to understand (more or less) what you will say in Spanish! Cool! We can communicate after the mission. Actually I was listening to a Spanish radio program a member here listened to, and I can actually understand a lot! Sweet! Brasil is close to a lot of Spanish speaking countries, like Chile (you were right!) and also Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru! So maybe when we visit brasil after the mission together you will be able to understand the people here. Cool! Yes, I am sharing the gospel and teaching people, but I still haven’t baptized a lot a lot of people. Just a couple people right now. But I will baptize more people soon! I’m glad you’re saying prayers every day! That’s really good! I love to see you too Kaitlin and thank you for the video! You should do it again sometime for me!
Hey Mom! Thank you to you too for the video! I really just love seeing you and hearing your voice and pretending like your right here in front of me talking to me. Can you believe that we’re going to get to talk together on the phone in just 2 months for Mother's Day? It’s going to get here like no time. I was just thinking that after the videos, talking on the phone really might not be THAT exciting. At least not as exciting as it was on Christmas. Man I loved that… Anyway, it’s also good to see more of the house, just to remember all the rooms and everything, to know it’s still all there, all the same. It’s so awesome that, YEAH, the business is going forward! Holy smokes, it makes me feel good to just realize that things are going forward. Very cool. Way to go for you and Dad and everyone else involved! I also cannot believe that Kaitlin is actually going to High school. That sentence does not make sense to me. Where did the time go? I would also have the same fears, but from what I’ve heard, that high school is a good place to be. It is good to know that the Bishop is there. There will also be other kids of the ward there too right? It should be fine, but yeah, staying prayerful is a good idea. I will do that too. I love you so much mom. Thanks for the extra time of making a video. I can’t wait to get my birthday present this Monday! I am fairly sure it will arrive then, with Zone Conference. Gosh, I have such a good family. :)
Hey my Dad! Some of that last comment was directed to you! Para bens (congrats)! Man, I don’t think I can even begin to realize what a long road it has been. We just have to realize to not get comfortable on our dependence on the Lord, to continue to stay humble and thank God for every blessing he sends our way. Love you so much my Daddyo. I’m right here with ya. :)
Hey Lyns! Hope all is going well with school, and band and… man, there’s too much to list, isn’t there? :) Sorry to hear you were still feeling sick. I love you so much and can’t wait to discover the music you sent me! Love you my sweet sis. Keep being yourself!
Hey Brendon! Love you man! Hey, I figured out the scripture chain that David Stewart’s dad used when he loaned out Books of Mormon! Or rather, I invented my own. I wanted to share it with you but I forgot. But one thing I’m doing different is pasting printed maps of how to get to the church building, in our Books of Mormon. Oh yeah, and I discovered how to say “how about”. As in “How about we take a shortcut?” or “How about THAT type of icecream” or “How about we DO NOT do that?” I said “Como sobre” for like three months, but discovered it didn’t make sense. So I’ve been trying to figure out how to say it but it’s a bit hard to describe. But I learned how to say it from an English student we’re teaching. It’s “Que tal”. Like “Que tal um pedaso desse carne?” ou “Que tal você é loco?” I like using it. Maybe you can tôo!
Okay, I’m rushing off the computer now! Love you guys!
VIJEOS!:
Part 2/3 from Last Week (sorry about the wait) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv1YX4ap9V0
Part 3/3 of Last Week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKCv5UaO_kY
Part 1/2 of THIS week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDE3Mgom37k
Part 2/2 of THIS week: Aw man it didn’t upload! So I guess you’ll have to wait to see the end of that riveting story… Hehehehe. The suspense!
Love love love you guys! Just get busy livin already!
Yelder Con
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