Speaking another language ROCKS

SPEAKING ANOTHER LANGUAGE ROCKS

Know why? Because thinking in another language isn't weird. It's actually pretty cool. And now the barrier that existed between me and Portuguese speakers is largely gone. I only have difficulty with really fast speakers, and music/video. Cool, huh? I'll have plenty of time for the last two after the mission - I just hope that everybody at home doesn't go crazy for it. I wonder if speaking a new language means I might be traveling a lot between Brazil and the US in my future...I certainly want to keep this language after I've abused it so much on the mission. Thanks for the updates and thoughts, Mom - it's not easy to keep a commitment to write somebody every week! I just hope that it's worth everybody's while to read what I've got here. I certainly do type a lot. :P

This week, I've learned several lessons. The last week of a transfer is always different, because many missionaries kind of slump and let the guy that entered. Transfers are very frequent in this mission because cultural familiarity has very different dynamics from even the surrounding states here in the Northeast. My comp was so convinced he'd be leaving that he even packed his bags before receiving the call...and bam. Nobody in the house was transferred. I ribbed him a little bit for it, because he needed it.

Still...I laughed when E. Gage called to give us the transfer info.

Anyway. Looks like I'll be in Bariloche with E. Estephánio for 6 more weeks! I'm starting to like this ward a lot, and now that I'm buddies with everybody it's getting really easy to just say "Hey guys, let's do splits tomorrow!". It's getting easier to find people that are prepared for baptism too - we got 8 references last week, and 4 of them was a family that's been surrounded by Church friends for a really long time. I'm REALLY hoping to baptize this transfer, and I'm willing to work my butt off to just get somebody new into the ward. It's been a few months since anybody new came in...and that's a long time for a ward in Maceió.

I have a newfound testimony of working with the members. We have 7 hopeful people right now, and they're all member references. Prez. Gordon B. Hinckley's quote about a "better way" for missionary work is absolute truth. The happiest parts of my mission have involved getting members and non-members in the same room, and I'd just like to let you guys know that there are some seriously cool people in some locations in places most of the world will never hear of. It's really neat to see God's gifts in people that are "normal", but so very extraordinary.

It's these sort of people that are "good farmers" - they are the people who are analogous to a story that Sis. Gonzaga told us in a leadership meeting. There was once a farmer who was very successful with his production of his corn - every year, he won prizes at the local fair because of his superb crop. At a certain point, a TV interviewer learned that he actually gave out his good excess seeds to his neighbors, to which the reporter replied "But sir, don't you worry that others will be able to compete with you as you give out your good seeds to your neighbors?"

"On the contrary, my good friend, the winds pick up pollen from my neighbors and comes into my own field. If they grow inferior crops, it weakens the quality of my own crops - so to grow good corn, I need to help them grow good corn too."

Same thing with the members. If you ignore them and just go workworkwork, you might baptize - but you're there to build up the kingdom of God. Anything you can do to strengthen the ward's capacity to sustain itself spiritually will only help the Lord's cause in that area. Working with members is different from working with the tracting cycle - it requires much more effort, and it changes in every ward you go to. If you make a mistake at a door, no worries: the chances of you seeing that person again are minimal. But if you make a mistake with a member, you have potential complications for the next few days/weeks/months of your life. Yes, it's tough. But I view it as the milk and the meat - if you're willing to man up and spend the extra effort working with the kingdom of God that's already in your area, you are making the effort to eat the meat - the food that Jesus proposes in John 4:34. Doing His work.

I also found a Liahona article I'll be sending your way soon in my next snail mail. I cried a little bit when I read it, and I'm sharing it with many members and investigators because it's become a part of how I view God's love for us. Hint: hide-'n'-seek.

Last thing I'd like to comment about this week is brainwashing. I hadn't really realized that what almost all missionaries call "brainwashing" is really a normal product of a person trying to rationalize the world around them, in conjunction with that they know of the churches they may or may not go to. I've been modifying my teaching style slowly to reduce the shock from the power-statement type of teaching I've been doing until now. This might come as a shock to my own missionary parents, but I talk about baptism in the first lesson - at the very least to let this person know that we're there to help that person progress to baptism.

Anyway. I've got lots of small things I could mention, but I'm healthy and happy - and really hoping I've got a package or two in the mail for me as this transfer comes to a close! Don't forget to write if you haven't, people - I only get the accumulated mail on my mission occasionally! Just remember that while it is easy to forget the missionary, the missionary does not forget you! Love y'all!

-Erich