Well the interesting news of this week is that I'm
now in a tri-companionship! Elder Fogelman who was in Curado, an area
close by in our zone, teamed up with us when his companion was sent home
this week....unfortunately, there have been four missionaries in the
last two months that have gone home while serving in our zone. It sucks.
The worst part is wondering what a difference these missionaries could
have made if they had properly applied themselves in the work of the
Lord. It's something that really weighs heavy on me, especially since
one of them was a former companion of mine, I lived with the other two,
and I had gone on splits with the other. I tried what I could to help
these guys, but I don't think things went right. On the other side,
there have been some really fantastic Elders that have served in our
zone. While four have gone home with obedience problems, another four
have since become Zone Leaders in the mission. It just goes to show that
there is always a balance in these kinds of things....the good
outweighs the bad fortunately! Anyway, President Lanius asked us to work
with Elder Fogelman here in Jardim São Paulo and visit Curado from time
to time. There is a family of 3 that is being prepared for baptism this
week there, so we are constantly running back and forth between the
areas. To throw another pancake on the stack, we are also responsible
for another area called Afogados, which is also closed to missionary
work. In all, we are serving 3 areas. It was supposed to be the opposite
with the influx of new missionaries, but there seem to be a ton of visa
problems these days for the Americans (been there, done that). The
result is that several areas in the mission are without missionaries,
and we have to respond to keep the work going in these areas! It's a
challenge, but the Lord is doing his part for sure.
Walking
on the street with three Americans in sunday clothing must be a funny
sight. I can only imagine what these people think when they see us. It's
been fun talking to people and teaching in trio. It's a bit different,
but I think I like it. Elder Fogleman is from Chico by the way....he's
also red-head! Haha, what a combo huh? He's pretty funny. We've had a
lot of good laughs at the funny things that people do and say
here....for example, while trying to talk with a lady on the other side
of a metal gate, she said that she could open the door because her dog
was loose. After asking her a second time, she said she was about to
leave and wouldn't have time to talk with us. Elder Fogleman responded
"oh, so the whole dog thing was really just an excuse?". It was pretty
funny. We aren't sure for how long Fogelman will be with us, but I'm
happy with it for now.
We've
been busy as can be these days. I'm positive that my mission has a been
a progression of busyness...I honestly think the last day of my mission
will be the busiest, craziest day ever, because I feel like we are
being stretched more and more thin every day to get just one more thing
done....I can't believe how much stuff we do in one day....it's really
only possible with the Lord's help.
We
taught a man who was about 30 years old. During the lesson, his mom,
who lives next door, popped in to listen. After a while, she started
yelling at us telling us that she wouldn't accept another denomination
teaching her son. Then she told us that he son has free-agency, but that
if he has a religious question, he has to ask her and only her. That
sounds like the same free-agency that the the North Koreans have. I felt
bad for the poor guy. He's married and is in his thirties and his mom
controls his life....tough luck.
We've
been in a pinch lately to bring people to church. We made a goal to
have three people at church this week, and we went to work to find these
three. The Lord rewarded us with just that. A man named Marlom, who I
had taught several months ago, and sine stopped teaching, showed up at
church. He was very impressed (spiritually impressed that is) and was
receptive to our baptismal invite after church. Another family (aunt and
nephew) showed up. We found them this week as we passed through a tiny
little alley and felt impressed to stop and talk with them. They are
pretty simple folks, and don't understand a whole lot of what we say,
but they liked church quite a bit. It looks like the aunt usually goes
to another baptist church. We will have to explain authority a little
better to her, but it's kind of difficult. She's one of those people
that likes to interrupt you as you teach to talk about how her brother
doesn't go to church or how her daughter isn't responsible with her son
or gets up to run after her 3 year old grandson riding his bike (with no
training wheels too....a 3 year old on a bike without training wheels?
já pensasse?). It all comes in the normal wind and grind of missionary
work.
We
are going to the temple today! I'm stoked. It's such a spiritual
refreshment. I'm excited for this week. I'm going to a city in the
interior called Vitória to work with Elder Morrey from Washington for a
few days, and on Friday we will have interviews with President Lanius.
On Sunday we will have our stake conference, and apparently there will
be a visiting 70 there. It's fun to be a missionary folks. The work is
rolling forth!
Until next time,
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