General Conference

This week had a TON of meetings. First we had the Leadership Meeting, which was epic - the new assistant convinced Prez. to use themes from Gladiator and Star Wars. It was the best meeting EVER. And I left that church building feeling super excited about LIFE.

 

After this, I went on a division. It was weird, traveling to the country (literally had to travel 2 hours by bus to get to that part of the district) of Alagoas, but it was super pretty, and very peaceful. I can see now why people would like to live in the country...and I when I got back to Maceió itself I felt pretty harassed by the constant hustle and bustle. Even everybody's attitude there is different - and it's one of the closest country towns in Alagoas! Weird. But it was a really good mission experience. I just regret not having a camera with batteries!

 

The highlight, of course, was General Conference. GC in English was SO great...I was way more focused on getting something out of it, instead of struggling to understand the slightly different language that the GC translator uses. Super-formal speech, like English, is rather different in Portuguese - unfortunately I don't have a lot of practice with it yet. Right now I'm more focused on being spiritually edified than proving myself by surviving GC in Portuguese. I really liked the talks that were given, and I hope that the next time will be just as good. I think the first session especially was aimed at me, with Prez. Eyring's talk about the carvings, titled "No One is Destined to Fail".

 

I'm really grateful for my Mom and Dad. They didn't carve me anything, but they left me with something a lot more precious: my vision of the future. Dad'll deny he had any part of the good in it, but I know that without the combined influence of the both of them I wouldn't be the same person. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

This transfer is turning out to be really good. I'm learning how to handle a lot of new things as DL, and now it's getting less stressful. It's like all parts of my mission - stressful and hard at first, but as time passes it gets easier because of the development I had to undergo. I know that as I continue on my mission, I shall continue to be refined. I'm grateful to have the restored gospel strong enough in my life that I have the desire to share it with the whole world. It's the best gift I've ever gotten in my life.

 

It's kind of weird to realize, in the meantime, I'm liking GC. And super-young missionaries?! Dude, what are we gonna do with the flood of greenies? I agree with the decision, though. People having an earlier opportunity to go on a mission gives Satan less time to work on somebody with doubts and other interests. I'm really excited to see the newbies that'll be getting here inevitably.

 

Anyway. Dude, Spanish is almost exactly Portuguese. It's easy, especially after spending a transfer with a Mexican. It's useful, though I never plan on giving up on Portuguese. Perhaps I'll get a job with it! Certainly I'm using it a lot when I talk to other Elders every week on the phone. I just hope that the newbies aren't so fresh they go giving the older ones a bad name. :P But we'll see! I believe the church is guided by inspiration!

 

So. Gotta run! But thanks for your constant letters. Don't forget to bother everybody else about writing!

Love,
Erich