Yeeha! No transfer! I'm going to die here!

Well, gang, I'm a little more in the know about the future.

 Transfer is gonna happen tomorrow...and I wasn't transferred! There's only one more left, so that means....oh, fetch, I'm gonna "die" here in Lagarto! Whoo! And E. Ralph is indeed my last companion, given that no emergency transfer comes and sideswipes us. I'm so excited!!! All the couples and families we've been busting our buns to teach...and another month to teach them (and hopefully finally get them IN THE WATER!)

 E. Figgins, who passed his last transfer, went home yesterday...we're sad to see him go, but I'm sure he'll be getting a well-deserved rest. E. Christensen, the DL of Lagarto/Itabaiana who lives with us, is in a tripanionship with us, and to resolve the logistical complications of the transfer we're going to be doing some interesting things with bus transfers. There were a LOT of people transferred from the zone. Ugggghhhh....hey I likely know everybody that'll be coming here, except for the newbies.

 I'm learning more about patience and love this last week. We're walking in a LOT of far-off places. We've gotten some really good referrals from the members, and they've been large families. We've got 2 couples, and a family of 4 young women. The greatest problem we face with them is transport - they all live at least 30 minutes away from the chapel (in different directions!). The only people that have cars here are...well, the branch president and his wife. We're working to find solutions, and I hope that our investigators' faith grows to the point that they will be able to resolve it. They're all very special to us, and very well-integrated with the members. 

 Ai ai ai...E. Ralph and I are happy. There's tons of work to do, as always. We've been praying and working hard, so we hope to have everything done the Lord's way.

E. Figgins giving a last high-five to the famous "Opa-tanana!" lunch. I'll have to explain that one later. :P

 I'm continuing to learn about the importance of family commitment. I'm deepening my understand of just how tightly knit goals, prayer, and faith are. They're things we need to renew constantly, so that we can focus our attention and not let distractions get in the way of our progress. It's been useful to me personally, and has helped me to understand what an individual needs so that they can develop their own faith. I'll borrow a quote from a friend of mine who's also on the mission, who sums up nicely one of the difficulties of missionary work in regards to this:

 Recently I've been noticing one of the hardest things is not to work hard, but to do so and also to follow the spirit 

 -Elder D. Harral

 One of my favorite passages, in which Joseph Smith gets a rather rough rebuking, refers to the importance of having His direction in our work. 

 For thou hast suffered the counsel of thy adirector to be trampled upon from the beginning. 

 15 For thou hast suffered the counsel of thy ^adirector to be trampled upon from the beginning. 

D&C 3:15

 This applies not only in our work as missionaries, but in all things that we do. We need to make goals based on prayer, strive to complete them, and have faith that we are doing the right thing. We also need to have faith that the Lord will correct us as we strive to do what is right, and be willing to change what exactly we think is "the right path". Sometimes our vision of success or what He wants us to do isn't exactly what we think it is. A hope in His work will allow us to be patient when things don't seem to be going as He wishes, or as He expects of us, and will guide us to seek improvements calmly and without becoming frustrated. Something I need to work on...but I feel like I'm doing better now. :D

 Know that I'm happy, healthy, and anxious to live life to its fullest more than ever. I love you guys! I hope you're all firm and strong, and that you're enjoying yourself. Did you know Matt Peterson got his call to Kansas? Good on you, Matt!! 

 Don't forget to write!

 With love,

-Erich

Yeah, P-day!

Hmm. This last week was a lot of work...we worked like crazy, and we were able to teach a lot of people. But...perhaps we've yet to better how we seek the Lord in the process. It's interesting how what seems to be our challenge is also the challenge of the whole zone...I guess there's something in being held to the standard of your leaders! It's a great battle we're engaged in, I suppose. Whew. I'm just glad God's given us P-Day to clean and sharpen our weapons, and let us rest a bit. I'll be rethinking a bit how we're grinding...and reflecting a lot. Perhaps that's what was lacking the most during this week - time to calm down, time to think, time to reflect, time to let the Spirit flow in the calm that's necessary outside of studies.

Loooots of rest and relaxation this P-day!

...oops. D: There went a whole bottle of drinking water!

Heh, last-minute photo shoot!

The last week was particularly notable because for the second time in my life, I've completed the Book of Mormon! This time...it was in Portuguese. :D I learned a lot more than the first time around! Only my journal is able to recount the most of what I was able to understand and take away from its passages. My reverence for this Book has greatly increased, and I'm so glad that I has been privileged to have it since my baptism at 8 years. Rather ironic that it took more than a decade to get it all read the first time, huh?

At the moment, trying to remember all of the great things I learned is drawing a blank...but I remember that I now have a greater understanding and respect for God's plan, and the many mechanisms He has for guiding His children. I learned about the gospel in its clear fullness, about how important it is to listen to the many sources of truth He puts in our path. Prayer, scriptures, prophets, the Holy Ghost, family, friends...these are merely some of the things He uses to guide me. I learned about the importance of being humble enough to listen to the instructions provided by these sources, and I understand much better how how difficult it truly is to do that. I learned about myself, and how far I have to go to even begin to scratch the surface of the good qualities that Christ has. Anything good that may be observed from me was always the result of what Christ did so that the good could be developed. I have developed a firm testimony of His love and His tireless diligence...a diligence that I feel a great need to emulate, so that I may take advantage of and share the privileges He extends to those who are willing to do as He asks. Many of these privileges are spiritual tools, knowledge that has empowered me to overcome many obstacles He permitted me to experience...things I'll be using forever! So...yeah. I'm extremely happy to have given another pass in the great cornerstone of the true Church. And now...I'll be giving a pass in Doctrine and Covenants. :D

Some highlights from the studies:

Moroni -23 - A feeling of incapacity to follow the things we know the Lord wishes us to do comes from our doing wrong. If we're doing what's right...we feel hope! If you're feeling despair, repent, kick ol' Scratch outta your head, and start feeling and doing better!

D&C 107:92 - My mind was faintly blown by learning this. Thomas S. Monson holds the right to all spirituagifts today, because of his office. That's...a lot of spiritual boost right there. o_0

The last thing I learned about this last week was about commitment. Commitment is something really important! Being committed to the gospel, to the Church, is what helps us attend to all the things that the Lord needs us to (Matthew). Commitment to doing what you say you believe is also important, and thus faith is in a certain fashion a commitment to our belief. Commitment is not the will to try, but the effort we exert to fulfill the purpose we have supposedly committed ourselves to - it can be measured by the results of those efforts to do that which we believe to be our priorities. 

That said, this week I would like to focus on my commitment to God and to doing what I understand He wants me to do. I realize that I don't understand all of it - and so I'll have to be open to what He has taught through the scriptures I have already read and that I've yet to read this next week. I'll probably have to modify my current habits to do that - but I'm willing to do so, if it means having a greater commitment to that which I testify to others in the lessons I teach.

**sigh**. Yeah. I'm getting old, huh? After this week...there's only one more transfer left. Then I'll be seeing Shawn and his crazy hairdo. SAYWHAT Dude, who are you and how long did it take you to eat my brother? ;) I'm excited...it's likely the time on my mission I'll be learning the most. All of my life has led up to the time I'm passing now. I don't want to let anything stop me from taking advantage of it! 

That said...I'm gonna run and write a little bit, since there's more letters and emails. I'm well and am loving life. Keep your chin up! I'm hanging in here. Don't forget to write!

-Erich

erich.gubler.blogspot.com.

Please link directly to erich.gubler.blogspot.com for Erich's pictures.  Mom puts them there.  They aren't loading properly otherwise.  Sorry.
Below is a "Mission Mom." (In the middle of the picture.)  Her name is Sis. Borges. She is a wonderful, caring lady and a good cook too.

Lagardo area

Well gang, this last week been's a ton of work and a ton of fun. I'm learning a lot, and receiving interesting revelations as I seek to understand more about core doctrine. I've been reading a copy of "Articles of Faith" by Talmage I finally got ahold of. It teaches mainly things I already know, but the perspectives I gain from the way he explains things are interesting...for instance:

 - "Sin" is generally associated with the Hebrew semantics, which means "to miss the mark", or rather, to have a certain lack with respect to the standard of God's being. But Talmage also defines it as any decision that prevents the development of the human soul. It's like...decisions we make that involve sin are like ladders, in which sin is a ladder that goes downward, and the righteous choices upward. I thought it was an interesting way to look at it.

 - Knowledge is to wisdom as belief is to faith - belief does not assure that one acts, as knowledge does not assure the usage thereof. This helps a lot with helping investigators get out of the rut with, "Ah, but I've already got faith." by showing that they'll apply faith by trying to do what we ask them to. 

 There are many other small things too, but as I haven't taken the time to write them down yet they're not organized enough to write out here. Know, however, that your son is happy and that he's working his rear end off!

 Speaking of which...We baptized Luís, Laís's brother!

 Yeah. Luís overcame a lot of problems to be in the Church, and to top it off...he's the only "firm" young man in the branch for now. We're gonna see if the Lord will inspire his friends to join the Church too - the organization might just get resurrected if things work out!

 There's a lot of work in front of us. We've been working with a lot more people that actually have interest than I've found in many other periods of my mission. I feel that we're finally establishing a pattern, and that through the pattern the Spirit is permitted to guide us. I hope that E. Ralph is my comp next transfer too, because we're learning to work well together. Our conversations on the street are fulfilling and fun. I'm feeling like the team missionary effort now involves more fully the members, and so it is - we had many people in the Church the other day, and most of them are already well-integrated with the branch. 

Splits with the Assistants. :D

 Lagarto is starting to have that familiar feeling that you get when you start to recognize everything wherever you go. The zone's slowly progressing, and I think I know the members here better than the members at home...which is something I'll have to fix when I get home. I can't imagine living somewhere without having a responsibility of some sort for the place now. I don't want to spend a lot of time living anywhere without a calling...I'll need something to keep me focused spiritually when I get home. There's plenty of time to think about that later...for now, I'm happy to be running the spiritual marathon, as a friend once put it.

 So...yeah!

It's been raining like crazy here!

 Hmm...yeah. I hope that everyone's doing well, and that you're all doing your best to learn what the Lord wants you to. He's quite the genius, and it's interesting how He prepares so many small details just to teach something. I'm grateful to be in His care, and how personal He makes it. Life is good.

 As always, I hope that you're all remembering to write! I yearn and hope for your loving stories and strengthening updates. I'll be going now...but don't forget! I love y'all!

 -Erich

Work, College Plans and Pictures

Whoo! I had forgotten that there were so many details involved with college...it could take awhile. I still want to see if I'm any good with messing with circuits themselves.

I remember that the most difficult thing was just working up the courage and suck up the suffering that the circuit classes supplied.
This last week, I've learned a little bit more about work. We had another zone meeting, and E. Ralph and I spent a lot of time working on what we would pass to our zone...when you pile that on top of a leadership counsel and General Conference, we really had a lot of meetings...and not much time to proselytize. We worked like crazy, and I'm glad I'm learning to do it here...because if I work in college like I'm working here, I'm sure as heck gonna do better than I did. It's interesting to see how God has shaped me until now. I'm beginning to notice things that I never noticed before, and beginning to manage things I thought I'd never be able to do. I feel special in His hands. I hope that this week we can continue the process...because the mission's a ton of work and a ton of fun.

I shall think of how to express what I've learned this last week...I believe it shall have to be something special for the family. :)

We have a lot of things scheduled for the next week with the members...so we're hoping to find some excellently-integrated teaching opportunities. This week, we'll be baptizing Luís, the brother of our latest convert, Laís. I'll finally be including a few photos here!

E. Ralph and I. Don't worry, we only do this in the house!

Our last batch of baptisms. Laís is the one on the far left, the couple's Fabiano and Adriana!

Leadership Counsel the day after Pres.'s 50th birthday. Feliz aniversário, Presidente!

I haven't been quite satisfied with the blog posts I've been sending lately...I'll have to resume writing my thoughts before I get to the computer so that I can write something more meaningful.

But yeah. Didn't get many letters, but I'm sure feeling good. I shall be pushing more letters here in a little bit (and a little surprise for Shawn!), so I hope that next week I'll be updating myself with some of you. I love y'all! Don't forget to write please!