Week 42 - Tender Mercies and Joy

This week I told President Andrew the heat isn’t bothering me anymore.  The prayers from the people back home are the reason why.  I’m dealing with the heat better then my native companion, Elder Farias.  I'm grateful for the tender mercies the Lord has blessed me with.

Elder Farias and I baptized a young man this week, which brought great joy. It was someone we have been teaching.  It was just way special.  He is already wanting and preparing to serve a mission  -- and he has Pokémon cards!

Speaking of food, Elder Farias and I have eaten out a ton this week -- just because life is great and we want to celebrate but now I’m broke.

We went to the fanciest pizza place after the baptism with four Elders and the branch president's son. It had a pizza buffet and we just ate so much pizza. One pizza to take home is like $58 reis!  [With currency conversion, that is about $22.00] The desert was chocolate pizza with ice cream on top.  It was so good!  We ate out so much that week I probably gained every kilo that I lost when I stopped drinking soda.  Ice cream is nice but what is nicer is the air conditioning in some of the stores.

Today I went to São José dos Campos.  One of Elder Farias’ friends wanted to go to the Nike store to get shoes so we went to the mall there.  Afterwards we went to this famous restaurant that’s super good and famous for their açaí.  I bought more than 2 liters.  I almost didn’t buy a drink there because drinks are so expensive.  They make natural juice but one cup without refills is about 6 reis [$2.25]. That’s the only downfall here in Brazil.  Anything fluid is so expensive.  It’s an arm and a leg to eat out.

I like the city of São José but I prefer places that are more “jungley.” On the bus ride to São José we passed through some cool little towns in the middle of the jungle.  I saw an iguana and a capybara. It‘s the world’s biggest rat like animal.

Our branch mission leader teased us Sunday.   He said he bought an air conditioner and how he has been sleeping like a baby. He is glad he doesn’t live in our house which is so hot.  It was a joke because we always talk about how hot it is.

[As Dallen was writing, a good sister surprised them with a gift.]  MOM AND DAD WE HAVE AN AIR CONDITONER NOW!!!!! A MEMBER GAVE IT TO US TO USE!!!!  I’m almost crying!!!! Apparently this sister had it for a long time and never used it because it was so complicated.  It was still in the box.  Transfers are the 27th I think.  Watch me get transferred now.

Week 35 - Joy and sickness

When I thought about a mission, I thought a mission would be like heaven on earth.   You would be surrounded by a ton of people with the same standards and desire to serve the Lord, help people, and share the gospel.   In reality, that’s not the case at all.  Some missionaries are disobedient.  Some have come to the mission unworthy or with different intentions.   Some missionaries are used to having cell phones, dating, etc.  Not all want to change.   You must truly have a desire to serve the Lord and each other to devote all your time and efforts to missionary work.

Our mission president is amazing!   President Andrews is very straight laced and strict, but he is also full of love.  We had a conference on Wednesday.  President Andrews spoke of the need to repent and change.   We must be obedient to have the spirit with us.  President Andrews isn’t concerned about numbers.   He said our mission could create a firm spiritual foundation for us.

There is a scripture that talks about when you do missionary work, that if you only covert one soul how great your joy will be (D&C 18:15-16).  That one soul is you!   Elder Holland talked about this in the MTC.   If you only get one thing from your mission it should be a testimony of the Savior and His church.   So that’s what I focus on, building myself up spiritually.

Dallen driving the VW?

We moved!  We are living in our area finally.  Our new house is way tiny, but everything is brand new.  It is nice.  The bathroom is way fancy for a bathroom here but it's so tiny.  It's very clean. Everything is new.  I like it a lot.  Now I don't have to walk an hour to my area every morning.

The bedroom

The kitchen

The bathroom

I've been sick these past three days.  Yesterday, I had a fever of 102 but today the fever is gone.  The good thing is I don’t stay sick long because being sick on the mission sucks.

[An email later that day]  Ugh!  I have a fever of 101.4.  It is the worst to be sick away from home.  I was fine this morning but I started feeling weird again during the afternoon.  It got way hot.  We took the train to go to the mall.  We ate at Burger King.  It's the only restaurant here that you get refills!