All in all, this week has gotten better with respect to mish work. E. Acevedo and I have a pattern, but I need to adjust it a bit - I need to let him talk, so that he can develop! Many times, I just do things because it's easier - but it's his training, not mine, huh? I've already proven I can do all of the mission tasks relatively well - gotta let the newbie take the ropes, I guess. The numbers for this week were still way lower than I liked, but hey - we're steadily improving in all aspects. Woo!

The main lesson I've learned this last week is courage. The Ward Mission Leader here likes to talk about an expression his mission president used a lot, which is "Would you like that with sugar, or without sugar?", to which the missionaries would reply "With salt!". Sounds like a question Dad would use, huh? But it's also applicable to our lessons. I've changed my teaching method to just make all the claims that will rock the investigators' worlds right up front - and it's working a lot better. For instance: "We believe that this church is the only true church on Earth, and that only this church has the authority given by God." That one helps a lot for sorting out people who are willing to give our message a chance. We've also been improving our ability to ask inspired questions, and let the investigator think while we teach them. It's made lessons much more spiritual, and I've got a feeling we might be baptizing soon (finally!).

We've also been walking TONS. Since we've been getting references in every end of this extremely large area (tons of references here!), much of our time spent is walking nowadays. We've seriously walked more than 3 miles 4 days out of 7 last week. The bed's feeling pretty nice nowadays...:P But on to work! I'm really thankful I don't have to work to get my companion out of bed.

More later and lots of love,

Erich

I'm loving and hating training here in Colina. I love the youth here - they're so active in the Gospel! The youth actually knocked on our door and wanted to get to know us the same night we got here. We've been doing lots of stuff with them here, including teaching ENGLISH and then SPANISH afterwards - since my companion's a Texican, he can do both in case I fall asleep or something weird like that.


 I love my companion, because he's very obedient, and very willing to take the challenges I leave with him. We've been working really hard over here -  I have to lead, guide, and direct everything here in Colina for now - wish me luck!


As I'm technically in a leadership position, I also went to a leadership conference with President and the stronger missionaries on the mission. It was a super spiritual meeting, and among other things I'd really like to share some quotes. Only one I remember, though, is when President G. talked about marriage, and related it to companionship:


"I don't leave this marriage for anything."


I'd like to make an edit:


"I don't leave this [companionship] for anything."


...and here's another quote:


"Lack of patience is a lack of creativity."


He associated these two quotes with companionship, and of thinking of solutions to companionship problems OTHER than a transfer. I really liked it.


There's always a ton to write, but I think this time ! Don't ever forget I love you, and that everything you sent to me's being recorded in heaven, if not in my journal! Don't forget to tell everyone at home I love them too!




-Erich

In the Field - Meu Segundo Homem, e Meu FILHO!

That's right, folks. We're gonna baptize us a MAN. He's extremely firm, and now he's looking forward to going to the temple this same year! But first I gots to introduce "we" - that is, my new companion companion that WAS new until last Tuesday!

THIS HERE is E. Jepsen. He's an excellent American companion who's already got 9 months here in the mission! He's the new District Leader in Itabaiana (which WAS my old area...until last Tuesday), and he's ready to change the world of Sergipe as we know it (since, y'know, it's his first time here). He's been helping us teach our latest and greatest SUPER ELECT, who's been baptized this last week. It's marvelous! We've baptized another man! Yeaaaah! Normally I'd post a picture, but the only one I've got is of his shoes here:

Que chique!

We've been working super hard out here, despite power outages, as shown here on the right...

Sou zombi. Raaar.

I'm using a miner light to plan.
And no, that's not a joke.

...and branch parties, as shown on the left, that leave us happy but very, very drained, and almost 20 other people we taught that became investigators but rejected or failed to keep commitments.


Also, I've been incredibly stressed because like I said...I'm no longer in Itabaiana with Elder Jepsen. I got an emergency transfer call on P-Day (Monday, that is!) which instructed me to pack my bags and be in the adjacent state of Alagoas that same night. Oof! On the road again.

I arrived in Maceió, the mission headquarters, to discover that I was to be a TRAINER for a new guy that was arriving. Can you believe it? I'm training now! I'm a Senior who's gonna have to rely on his own skill for the next transfer or so - until the newbie, who's incidentally a Texican (speaks Spanish and English, makes Portuguese easy) gets up to speed with the new demands he's got. Lots of stress all around! Next time I'll try to put up some photos of the greenie - his name's Elder Acevedo!

So, as I write this, I'm getting ready to go meet my old dad (remember E. Biddulph? He lives in my zone now!) and I'm gonna show my son his family here on the mission. It's gonna be excellent. Don't forget to write (link on the top of the page!), and always stay awesome, my friends!

Here's a shot I felt proud of, just to wrap up:

Guess who's in the missionary standard!