t shirt

Hey, this last week...I realized I've developed a bit of a prideful trait.:(

I'm quite blessed to have a very humble companion. He helped me to see that this was true, as did the Lord as I studied to discover the problem. It's not exactly in the sense that the passage implies, but it helped me to draw the conclusion I needed.
Right now I'm working to make it better. 
I've learned this last week also to be grateful for the existence of spiritual resistance to the Church, speaking of which. I've gotten ahold of a copy of The Great Apostasy, by James Talmage, and it's proving to be a very insightful read. It's incredible how the Church devolved from its pure state when Christ left to teach the Nephites, and especially how evil doctrinal mutation became after Constantine picked up the fractured structure that was left of the Church of Christ. Apostasy had been on a slow boil with the heavy persecution, especially on the heads of the Church's leaders...but things degraded very rapidly after Christianity became something even socially and politically beneficial. I'm gonna finish it today if I can...right after I get some doodling done!

Thaaaat's right, I did a doodle. I already put a good half of P-Day into this, and once I finish it up we're gonna make it into a shirt. Zone shirt FOR THE WIN! We're gonna be the "Lagarto Artilheiros". "Artilheiro" in Portuguese means "artilleryman". In modern Portuguese, it's used for soldiers manning artillery support, but it's also a word used for the attackers that make a lot of goals in soccer. Our zone meeting was based on this word, and now we're trying to make ourselves baptismal artilheiros. We're doing our best to get more people into the waters of baptism and converted to the true Church of Christ!
Hmmm....besides that which I've already said here, the week was really good. Lots of learning, lots of teaching, and lots of juggling responsibility. It's a good life. And I hope that I'll be able to apply all these skills I'm using for the real test later. I hope y'all are doing well! I love y'all, and hope that you don't forget to write (as many of you have loyally done!)

Tchau for now!
Love,

-Erich

Another "Big One", but not so big really

Alrighty. 
Welp, after copping out for two weeks, here I come with a rather radical update!
I'm now literally on the other side of the mission, in the Lagarto Zone! Geographically, the biggest and most spread out zone in the mission. Aaaaand...yeah. For those of you looking at the link, that includes the cities of Itabaiana (old area!), Itaporanga D'Ajuda, Estância, Lagarto itself, and Tobias Barreto. 4 branches and a group...wow. Lots of modern-day pioneers living in my zone here.
And...yeah. It's WAY the heck out there. It's also the first time I've been burdened with the calling of a Zone Leader, and it's...pretty stressful. But it'll all work out! It's hard, but it's one of the funnest things I've done too. I've learned a lot about leading and also about being one, according to John 17:21. We need to be one, because if we're not, we're not His. A lot of problems that I'm seeing in my zone is that they simply haven't developed a method of working together yet - because we just got transferred. So...our priority is to get ourselves familiar with each other, and work out how we're going to work together as a functional unit of work in God's vineyard. You could say that teamwork is an essential part of God's plan for anything that requires more than one person. And it's not easy, but it's possible. You have to use goals to unite yourselves, and you have to be truly committed so you can change the way He needs you - but He'll help you if you're humble and just knuckle under and work.
My new comp's name is E. Henrique, a Paulista with a great sense of humor. He's the second Brazilian I know serious about practicing English, and he already talks pretty well. We work pretty well together, and we've had a lot of well-met personal adjustment with our companionship. I'm really satisfied with the success we had there, but now...we just gotta start baptizing every week. Because really, if WE don't, how on earth can we expect to help others do the same?
Yeah. Baptizing weekly is our goal. And we gonna do it too. We just gotta juggle ZL duties with the difficulty that this area is having, and God should take care of the rest.                                                                            
D&C 38:27Pray for us! We're gonna need it to do our job. Every time I feel tempted to feel sorry for myself, I just reread John 19 - and remember that I'm shoulder to shoulder with the problems He faced so that everything would work out for me. I love y'all, and love the correspondence I receive from y'all - it helps a lot. Don't forget to write!
Love 
-Erich

Another transfer?!! Zone Leader

Hey, I'm an LZ now. And I had no idea how stressful it was. But now I'm the most stressed guy I've ever been. And I love it. 
It's strange to hear accounts of Dad, evaluating himself at my age. Dad seems like...such a wise man to me, it's strange to hear him repeating things I'm thinking about many new missionaries that arrive here every transfer. I see them teaching way better than I did, speaking the language better than I did, understanding the gospel itself much, much better than I did. I took...at least a year to begin understanding just what it meant to be responsible, and to organize myself. When I did that, I removed much of the pavilion that was blocking my view, and I began to do an intensive study about the most basic principles of the gospel itself. I started to open my spiritual eyes.
Dad seems to think that this same effect took a good long while for him. Mom, I always looked to you as a beacon for wanting to do what's right. I think I inherited much of the righteous desire that I feel from you. I let my head and the childish habits I had get in the way a lot of times...and most of my mission has been the removal of those things, and realize, as the people of Corinth realized, that there was no way I could continue with those things and keep moving forward. 
I taught a couple that fought about some really, really dumb things this last week. They're thinking of splitting because of it. And I realize that if my own parents had let such silly things get in the way of what was important, I wouldn't be the same guy. I probably wouldn't have had the same education. I wouldn't have had the foundation I had. I think it's incredible, on the mission I've come to have a growing certainty that the faithfulness is almost more important than who's actually involved. Same thing as our covenants. Same thing as any other branch of the Church. If you stick to your duties, everything else will be added on. It's...probably a useful lesson for later on.
But yeah. I look forward to providing the company you'll need after the mission. You will love the brothers and sisters that so willingly give us missionaries their own, and are taking care of us so well. I expect to cry as you meet them. I'm feeling like crying right now, considering the possibility. I love these people. They have a really, really hard time sometimes. And I know that the only way I can do everything possible for them is to do God's work and let His plan take care of these wonderful people.
I hope Shawn realizes soon the heavenly help he gets from you two. It might take until the mission...but he'll realize it eventually. Just keep doing your part...and you'll have the same satisfaction I see expressed in your emails with him. Don't every give up! That's what my "dad" here on the mission taught me.
Anyway!
Love,
-Erich

Another Transfer

I love the mission. The mission has helped me to understand much more about myself, the way that I am. I understand better my strengths and my weaknesses. I know much better what's within my capacity for now, and how to handle some of the lacks I have. My current comp is a guy from the Brazilian army, so he's used to just cutting loose when he sees something he doesn't like. It was a great learning experience to be with him, because when I realized he wasn't actually attacking me, and that was just the way he was, we started to communicate way better, and he's a really great person - I just had to adjust myself. Gotten to know anybody like that? :P He has a similar belief to Dad's about the purpose of the mission, though I don't believe it to be wrong. 

Anyway. The only thing I said to (brother) Shawn about his Eagle is that I want him to drive me home from the airport (after he got his license...which was supposed to be after he got his Eagle) but I dunno. I don't recall putting forth much effort to get him motivated like he seems he is. Perhaps that blessing that talks about determination is finally kicking in? I'll do my (motivating) bit about the mission when I get home - I don't know that I have time to write the essays I'd write if I were determined to do so.

Dad should never have any doubt about the good he has done. I see that sometimes he forgets that - but Shawn takes after him with respect to his determination to do stuff once he's put his mind to it. I remember at least that much - I think my perception of my family will have changed very much as I get adjusted to normal life again. But we'll see.

Anyway. That's my response for now. I love you! I'm getting transferred here - I think I might be (given a bit more leadership responsibility) here in a little bit. But that's just a sneaking suspicion. Hey - if I go to Sergipe again, (Mom and I will) have to make sure to book something for Aracaju, alright?

Love,

-Erich