For the first time in a while, we had two of our investigators show up at church!
Transfers are next week. I don't know what will happen. All could remain the same and I'll stay in São José dos Campos with Elder Souza. I could remain here but be given a new companion, or I could be transferred to a new area and get a new companion. I'll find out next week.
If I am transferred, I hope I'm put in an area that has a camera repair shop. I walked for an hour down this road trying to find a place that would fix my camera, but found nothing. I still don't have a working camera.
This Friday, we have a meeting with our new mission president, President Silcox, and his wife.
We had a baptism this week! He wasn’t my investigator. The other Elders in this area took me when teaching him. He is super into guitar and I really like him. The gospel has blessed him greatly and helped him overcome much. At one point he was homeless but now he has a job and lives in a house. He will receive the priesthood next week!
The gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t have a book cover. It is LITERALLY for EVERYONE who accepts it. The atonement physically, spiritually, and mentally changes us. There are no limits! The more amazing thing is we can apply the atonement in our lives -- anytime and anywhere!
I feel he will be a church leader in a few years. He is an amazing example of how the gospel changes lives!
Elder Souza and I were cut off by ALL of our investigators but we have been trying to find new people to teach. It’s really hard. Our area is more then 20 years old and it’s the smallest area in São José. This means most people have already been introduced to the missionaries.
Elder Souza and I fasted and prayed that someone would come to church this week but in the end no one showed up. As we were leaving, a woman walked in and said that she was looking for us. Our prayers were answered! We look forward to teaching her.
I helped Elder Peterson in Jacareí this week. This month they have a party called festa junina. They eat something called bolinho caipira and drink this cider made with ginger. Jacareí is super cool. The church building there is one of the most beautiful I have seen in Brazil.
Elder Faustino and Elder Farrias served there and now Elder Peterson is there. It would be fun to serve there someday too.
We went to the city park today where there are capivaras but we didn’t see any. We played soccer and had a good time. Tomorrow Elder Faustino is going to come work with me.
My camera is still broken. I’ll need help from one of the members to get it fixed. I need someone to take me to the place that fixes them. I’m really stressed about this whole camera thing.
This week was going great. We were able to teach a bunch of lessons to members and my district had four baptisms scheduled for next Sunday. My companion and I are teaching two of the people preparing for baptism and Elder Peterson and his companion are teaching the other two. Saturday everything just plummeted to the ground. All of our baptisms have been postponed.
Some good news is that I'm super excited for an eight-year old girl that will be baptized in a couple of weeks. She is super funny and a handful for her mom. She’s the daughter of the family with all the animals. She is super cute and active. Her mom will for sure take a ton of pictures before the baptism. I’ll get some from her since I still don’t have a camera.
The daughter has some chickens as pets. They don’t stay in the house, but she brings them in for visitors. Chickens are actually pretty cool and they like being petted. Hers are super cuddly. They lay normal eggs but there is some kind of bird here that lays tiny colored eggs. You can buy them at the super market. A lot of people like them.
My companion and his family are amazing. They used to drive eight hours to attend church on Sundays. They live in the middle of nowhere. He is the first missionary to leave from their small congregation. I think he will help a lot of missionaries be obedient. He is a great example to the other young men in his congregation.
I went to the mall today for p day because they had these giant mechanical robots of animals. They even had King Kong, which was way cool. We also played some soccer
My shoes are falling apart. They are really bad and both pairs have holes in the bottom. I plan on buying construction shoes that a lot of the elders use because they are super durable and they aren’t that expensive.
This past week wasn’t the best. We had many appointments fall through. I do have a highlight though:
I met an investigator that used to own three companies. After some bad decisions he lost everything and was living in the streets. He doesn’t have much. Often he only has rice for a meal. He is super cool and plays the guitar. Last night a man entered his house and stole the most precious things he owns which are his two acoustic guitars. He literally has nothing and is super sad about the guitars.
He is changing his life. He is working hard to prepare for baptism. He hopes to be baptized soon but isn’t quite ready. He amazes me in how he is able to focus. This man literally has nothing but that’s not what is important to him. What’s most important is being baptized. He will be a leader in the church someday.
Picture from many months ago.
I’ll be getting a new mission president in two weeks. My new mission president is Roy W. Silcox. He is a professor from BYU that teaches physiology and developmental biology.
