I am still in São Lourenço! I'm still with Elder Lima! We didn't get transferred and new missionaries didn't get transferred here.
I really thought that we'd get more missionaries here (the area is really going great!) Right now we're helping two couples get married and several youths to be baptized.
I found out more about Josanilda this week! She told us that when she was still in spiritualism she went to visit her sister in São Paulo for the first time and the night before she dreamed that she was in the São Paulo airport and no one was there to take her to her sister's house. She began to get nervous and worried about where she should go, or what she should do. Suddenly two tall men dressed completely in white walked up to her and one asked if she would like to go to her sister's house. She said, "Yes, but I don't know the way." The man told her not to worry, that they would guide her. When she got to her sister's house she woke up. And she said that when she got to São Paulo (she had never seen anything there before) her sister was there and as they walked to her sister's house, she recognized all of the streets. She felt a peace that told her that God would take care of her. Then her sister invited her to visit the church on Sunday. She went and the lesson was about eternal families. This was something that no other church teaches and that she had secretly desired for years and years. From this moment she began to separate from spiritualism, but it took her a year to visit the church again. She decided that she would go to church again and she had a dream again. This time her aunt who was very sick died and she had to tell her aunt that it was her time, but that she (Josanilda) had work to do in this life. She felt strongly that she had to go visit the church of her sister again. She went there and met us (two men dressed in white shirts that reminded her of the dream in São Paulo) and she heard again the same lesson about eternal families that she had heard last year. She decided instantly that she would be baptized, she just waited until she felt that she was prepared. I am so happy to have been a part of that process. Now her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend are getting ready!
You know how everyone at home says that cold weather causes colds? Well here it's HOT weather! I don't know what to do with all of the superstitions I've heard by now. I guess I should just hole up in my house and curl up into the fetal position. All this time I just thought sickness was caused by bacteria!
Elder Page.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
14 March 2011 - email
I found myself getting a new comp on Monday: Elder Lima! He knows the area and he's a hard worker. I think that this is going to be a good time here!
Josanilda got baptized! It was amazing! She was calm, and when I lowered her into the water she was so serene. She also got up in front with no prompting and bore her testimony while crying and looking directly into my eyes the whole time. We had to call president about her baptism and he told us that she was exactly his 7000th baptism! He was excited because we've been writing to him about her and calling him about her. Her daughter is exactly where her mom was a week and a half ago; she wants to be baptized, but "something's missing" (IE: deciding to be baptized). They are a family that I'll never forget. Her husband came too! And we're going to try to work with her daughter's boyfriend now. They are all such wonderful people that it's hard to not hug Josanilda!
I think that president is going to split the area here in two and send two more missionaries (Lima as senior of one duo, and me of the other) by the way he was talking in the interview. I am really happy now and I really can't wait to meet more people like Josanilda. Help the missionaries. And if you're not a member and you're reading this, give a moment's thought to listening to their message. Think of a skinny, brown David Page working in the hot Brazilian sun if that helps you. [David said that he gained some weight in the MTC, but has lost ~50 lbs since!]
Stay strong,
Elder Page
Josanilda got baptized! It was amazing! She was calm, and when I lowered her into the water she was so serene. She also got up in front with no prompting and bore her testimony while crying and looking directly into my eyes the whole time. We had to call president about her baptism and he told us that she was exactly his 7000th baptism! He was excited because we've been writing to him about her and calling him about her. Her daughter is exactly where her mom was a week and a half ago; she wants to be baptized, but "something's missing" (IE: deciding to be baptized). They are a family that I'll never forget. Her husband came too! And we're going to try to work with her daughter's boyfriend now. They are all such wonderful people that it's hard to not hug Josanilda!
I think that president is going to split the area here in two and send two more missionaries (Lima as senior of one duo, and me of the other) by the way he was talking in the interview. I am really happy now and I really can't wait to meet more people like Josanilda. Help the missionaries. And if you're not a member and you're reading this, give a moment's thought to listening to their message. Think of a skinny, brown David Page working in the hot Brazilian sun if that helps you. [David said that he gained some weight in the MTC, but has lost ~50 lbs since!]
Stay strong,
Elder Page
Friday, March 4, 2011
28 February 2011 - email
Hey there!
I hate carnival.
Just thought I'd get that out. It hasn't even started yet and I've already seen evidence of every one of the ten commandments being broken in public in the same place. What's even more ridiculous is that it's considered preparation for holy week. It's like a set of mathematical equations:
Carnival is from two words meaning "Festival of the flesh"! And to make things worse, the city center is close to our house!
Other than that, a lot of good is happening here:
We baptized three cousins on Saturday. Mateus (10), Laiane (11), and Laiz (12) are excited to go to church, but a little shy. The youth here have an encampment that they do here during Carnival so the girls were invited (Mateus is too young). It's kind of like EFY, but planned to cover the time of Carnival. There's no such thing as Boy Scouts here and it's easy to see that the lack of that program has taken it's toll; almost no young men are preparing for missions. I am becoming more and more appreciative of the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouting program prepares young men for the mission and later life.
Elder Pajé (yeah I found out that the real word is with 'j' and not 'g', but almost no one knows that!)
I hate carnival.
Just thought I'd get that out. It hasn't even started yet and I've already seen evidence of every one of the ten commandments being broken in public in the same place. What's even more ridiculous is that it's considered preparation for holy week. It's like a set of mathematical equations:
- Holy Week = No sin for a week.
- Carnival = Sin of a week and a half piled into half of a week.
- Carnival + Holy Week = Week and a half of time = Week and a half of sin
Carnival is from two words meaning "Festival of the flesh"! And to make things worse, the city center is close to our house!
Other than that, a lot of good is happening here:
We baptized three cousins on Saturday. Mateus (10), Laiane (11), and Laiz (12) are excited to go to church, but a little shy. The youth here have an encampment that they do here during Carnival so the girls were invited (Mateus is too young). It's kind of like EFY, but planned to cover the time of Carnival. There's no such thing as Boy Scouts here and it's easy to see that the lack of that program has taken it's toll; almost no young men are preparing for missions. I am becoming more and more appreciative of the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouting program prepares young men for the mission and later life.
Elder Pajé (yeah I found out that the real word is with 'j' and not 'g', but almost no one knows that!)