25 July 2011 - email

Hey there!

I did like how you sent me poems and songs because I sent one. That was kind of cool. I am dying to get that letter from Chelsea Francis and find out where she's going, why do letters sometimes take forever?

Well, I am staying in Jenipapo with Elder Xavier for another transfer, but our companionship has gotten a lot better. We finally talked things out and we are both working on our faults. I really hope to be able to help him prepare to be an excellent missionary, but I've also learned that I can't keep beating myself up when I do everything that I can and he doesn't want to. That is when it depends on his free agency!

Well, all of my good friends got transferred out of the zone, so now I have to make some new ones, that's one of the things that I like about the mission: you are forced to make new friends. If you don't, the two years are going to pass very slowly and sadly.

That family, Moisés and Beth and their daughter Mariana, that I've been visiting since I got here had some rough times this last month. They lost their job and he couldn't get a new one. That is weird because he has WAY more experience then someone his age should have. A ton of other personal things happened (it's weird how much missionaries know sometimes) and he started to go inactive. We found out later that he thought of divorce or suicide while this was happening. After trying and failing I don't know how many times, he finally got a job. The only problem was that all of the money that he had had to go to save their apartment. They had nothing to eat at home and had only eaten bread for three days. [They were also offended by the bishop.] That was the last straw and they cancelled the baptism of their daughter and decided to never set foot in the chapel again and Beth gave us her materials for seminary to give to the bishop.

I was so sad. I just went home depressed. When the other elders got home they asked what had happened and so we told them. One of the elders suggested that we all put some money in an envelope and run over to their apartment and leave it under the door. We did that hoping to help in some small way. We knew that they would know that it was us, but we have been denying it since. The next day they called me over, said that they had uncancelled the baptism of Mari and that they wanted me to baptize her. Beth took back her seminary materials and they both went to church. Both have decided that on a personal level, they won't have anything to do with the bishop, but respect his calling in the church. It was one of the most amazing signs of genuine conversion that I have seen. And my testimony of the power of a little service given has grown immensely.

God then blessed us with seven new investigators in the chapel. I believe that he was testing us to see how we would act.

I love you all!

Elder Page

18 July 2011 - email

It actually felt a little cold this week!

Hey there all you beautiful people...and the people who I usually write...I'm kidding, gosh!

So this week was a lot of rain and it got cold in the mornings! I also forgot to tell you that today we would listen to a seventy! Elder Mazzagarti spoke to us (his accent is really weird: he says R's like R's and not like H's!) and it was really good. He talked a lot about our calling being sent from God and how we need to talk to everyone we see on the street. He said that he found out that he has had every leadership calling from bishop to seventy and he still feels like a new member! He was very dynamic and gave us some homework to study.

Wagner went to church finally and stayed the whole time. He is still really iffy about baptism but at least he's reading the scriptures and praying again. If he keeps doing that, the spirit will touch him and he'll be baptized for sure. We also met a really nice family, I just don't know about their 'real intent' to search for the truth, but we're going to visit them tomorrow.

I have started noticing what makes the difference between the lazy elders, the really uptight ones, and the really good ones: it's all about attitude. The lazy elders think, "How bad can I be without getting in too much trouble?" This attitude leads to disrespect of the leaders, self-righteousness, anger at those who follow the rules, and overall failure in the true purpose of the mission. These elders have a nick name here: GH or "Glória dos Homens" "Glory of Men"

The up-tight elders think, "How good do I have to be?" Which leads to judgemental behavior and pride. These elders have a nick name too: Crentão "Big believer"

And the really good elders think, "I want to be valiant!" Which leads to success and happiness. Now I just have to put that in practice. These elders have a name too: Representatives of Jesus Christ.

Elder Page

11 July 2011

Hey Family,

So this week we met the new President and his wife! It was pretty awesome! She spoke first and she is an amazing person. She is super-animated and their story as a couple is amazing! He is more serious, but I think it's because he's starting and he wants to show that he wants obedience from the missionaries.

Elder Page