Well folks, first week of the new transfer is over! And...I'm still here in Verdes Campos! Wooot! Same comp, same house, same lineup of investigators. Aaand...all of our investigators are getting swapped out rapidly. We've gotten to know a lot of members in the short time of these last two weeks.

One of the funniest experiences I had was this last week was with a whose name wasn't quite coherent when he told it to us...though he was quite drunk when we spoke with him. He's a less-active from a family of...well, more less-actives. He's one of the funniest people I've seen drunk, he started to make Buddha-level philosophical extrapolations using the gospel and a stray cat that randomly came into his house. The visit was a pretty ridiculous affair, unfortunately it's something you had to be there to see. But from the conversation we had with him he showed a profound desire to go back to church. A few of the possible things that could be holding him back are obvious, but I think there's something else too. Whatever the case, there's plenty of family around him that IS active...more distant relatives, but relatives nonetheless. Plenty of missionary work for everyone!

The weird thing about our area is that we're having our success way out in the sticks. Everybody that's receiving us best is waaay out there, where water is relatively scarce, even by Arapiraca's standards. I'm pretty sure my physical condition is the best it's been since I've left on the mission (perhaps in my life?), because we're walking at least a good ~3.4km a day and E. Langlois, who DID INDEED GET TRANSFERRED HERE, is a great personal trainer for me and E. Ginatto. The best part is that instead of feeling more tired, I feel better. Who'da thought, huh? Guess I'm gonna have to remember this when I get off the mission. Perhaps I'll just have to walk to UVU from home just to keep my health up...or perhaps I'll just have to remember to use the equipment we've got at home.

But yeah. Beyond that, not much has changed here on the mish. I've discovered some interesting passages that I would have liked to dip into, but unfortunately the time does not permit! Check these out:

Alma 14 - Humility.

Luke 16:19-31 - Compare with Mosiah 4.


II Timothy - Hey Dad, Paul's sending his son a letter! It's actually not that far off from the letters that many missionaries get, huh? II Tim. 1:7 was the jewel of discovery there - I've taken this long on my mission to find a good scripture to help people with last-minute doubts due to gossip or somebody badmouthing the church. Can you believe it?

Hmm. Alright, welp, that's the update for now. I love you guys! I hope everything's going great on your end, and that you don't forget to write!

The New Ward

The ward split was really neat. The meeting that announced the division was unforgettable - more than 20 people got up to bear their testimony and express their sentiments about the friendship and the determination to keep the split wards thriving. Within 5 minutes, the bishop announced that there was only time for the people on the stand! The new leadership (everybody but the bishop) is composed of very strong and enthusiastic members. The first split meeting went really smoothly, we had only a few people who had forgotten/didn't understand the ward split, and everybody seems happy with the new organization and the callings. The bishopric's a bit stressed out, but that's understandable - the only guy currently used to his role is the bishop himself! He's doing a lot of running around...but everybody looks pretty happy. I'm a pretty blessed missionary, I think.

 

Unfortunately, Matheus didn't get baptized...yet. His mom suddenly decided that instead of just choosing the date for his sister, who lives in Maceió, to attend, she wanted the WHOLE FAMILY to attend. She's something of a socialite, so I can understand why she'd want it...but that was kind of a bummer for her to bounce the date that she herself had marked. The husband and Matheus himself both wanted it to be a quiet event, with just the closest members in the family...but she was rather implacable. So for now, we just coast it out until he's in the water...and running around like headless chickens looking for new people!

 

...Alright, well, it's not exactly like a headless chicken. We've actually got a pretty good ball rolling with the references, we get a steady stream every week and we get good ones too...but right now I'm just thinkthinkthinking how we could involve more working with lessons than with searching for new people. It could be laziness, but I prefer to think that more time sitting is better as a missionary - generally you sit because you're teaching a lesson! I don't particularly like thinking with my legs, though I'm glad my body's up to it. Wish us luck for the next week!

 

I'm a happy dude 'cuz I talked to my mommy. But don't y'all forget that I love y'all too! I hope that I'm able to help those that read this blog in some small way. Just remember: he who sends letters gets replies! For those whom I owe responses: I'm on it today! I'll be sure to get them pushed in the mail today/tomorrow. Probably tomorrow, heh...

 

Until next week!

 

-Erich

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

We got Deriel in the water, and I'm excited to keep things up this week. We'll have plenty more time this week to find references and train our new converts to do the Lord's work. It's gonna involve careful planning, a little plotting, and some scheming. Just with how I've mapped it out for now. But as I've learned on the mission...there's no guarantees. This last week EVERYTHING FELL, it was quite disappointing...but the results were fulfilling, because we worked out butts off. We just need to plan a bit better our route for now...everybody we're working with is super close to home or WAY out in the sticks, and we've got a bunch of references for the sticks too. So......yeah. That'll be a little difficult until and unless we plan stuff out. It's interesting how that works, huh? The people that have to walk the most are the ones who with whom the missionary work is currently having the most success...it's a pioneer story!

 

I'm amazed by the faith of many people outside of the Church, actually. The converts we've brought in have had to live through some hard situations, and it's been a good reminder that there IS such a thing as good people outside of the church. One of the investigators of the missionaries living with us actually brought to me the Spirit as I was talking to her, and she was very concerned with what I suppose to be a relative or close friend of hers. She expressed a doubt that's made me think for a good long while after I tried to help her answer the question:

 

"Como você ajuda alguém afastado mesmo de Deus?"

Translation: "How do you help someone that's really turned away from God?"

 

Those are some real Christian sentimentos right there. I wonder how many normal people think about that, how many ARE depending on God in the way they know. I wonder just how different it is between here and my hometown, where religion is even less discussed than it is here. I hope that every missionary knows that there ARE people waiting out there, but they just are lacking the right conversation, still waiting for the truth to find them. And that's OUR job, called directly from God! I'm glad to have the privilege to be a part of it all. 

 

Alright, let me think here. Timecrunching doesn't let me exactly write the way I like.

 

asdfasdfasdfaaaanyway this last week had several interesting points. The first is that the ward we're working with split! I've never been part of one before...so I'm a little wary of how everybody's gonna feel when we're in divided timeshares this next week. Our responsability has become greater, and we're looking forward to the new ideas that the ward leadership in its entirety will have (the only calling that DIDN'T change was the bishop for our part!). The first baptism in the ward will be Matheus this week - I'll write more about him next week.

 

Man, time is going quicker than greased lightning...gotta run! Just know that I love you guys, and that the correspondence every week is priceless for me. Don't forget to keep it up! Yeaaah!

 

-Erich