10-18-10 Working Hard in São Martins

THE WEEK HAS BEEN VERY VERY LONG! MY COMP ELDER WELLS IS A VERY HARD WORKER, AND WE ALSO GET ALONG WELL. THIS IS A TOUGH AREA THAT WE'RE IN, AND LAST TRANSFER WAS THE FIRST TRANSFER IN HIS MISSION THAT HE DIDN'T BAPTIZE (13 MONTHS IN).  WHEN WE GET HOME AT NIGHT WE PLAN, EAT, AND GO STRAIGHT TO BED. AND I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FALL ASLEEP FAST, BUT NOW I CAN FALL ASLEEP IN LIKE 30 SECONDS. IN FACT I FELL ASLEEP FOR A MINUTE IN WARD COUNCIL YESTERDAY. OUR BISHOPRIC IS AWESOME HERE, THEY ARE ALL UNDER 30 YRS OLD AND RECENTLY RETURNED MISSIONARIES. THE DOWNSIDE THOUGH IS THE WARD WAS NOT BEING RUN WELL BEFORE (NOTHING IS ORGANIZED), SO WE ARE SPENDING A LOT OF TIME HELPING THEM OUT WITH MAKING THE WARD FUNCTION LIKE A WARD SHOULD. WE ARE TRYING TO WORK WITH MEMBERS OF THE WARD TO FIND PEOPLE TO TEACH, BUT SO FAR THE ONLY SUCCESS WE'VE SEEN OUT OF THAT WAS THE BISHOP'S NIECES (LIANDRA, 11, AND MAYARA, 10) WHO  HAVE BEEN GOING TO CHURCH FOR YEARS WITH HIS FAMILY, BUT ARE NOT BAPTIZED. SO WE STARTED TEACHING THEM AND WE WILL PROBABLY SET A BAP-DATE WITH THEM FOR A WEEK FROM SATURDAY.  WE HAVE A TRANSFER GOAL OF CONTACTING 10 MEN EVERY DAY (FINDING, TEACHING, AND BAPTIZING ADULT MEN IS VERY IMPORTANT IN THIS MISSION, AND ALSO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT).

Jon and "Friar Tuck"

 SO FAR WE'RE ON TRACK, AND IN SACRAMENT MEETING, WE BOTH GAVE TALKS ABOUT MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK. (BTW, I HAD LIKE A HALF HOUR NOTICE BEFORE SACRAMENT MEETING STARTED!) MY TALK WAS SIMPLE AND I QUOTED AN ELDER BEDNAR TALK CALLED "ASK IN FAITH." HE SAID THAT IT IS THE MEMBERS' RESPONSIBILITY TO FIND, AND IDEALLY THE MISSIONARIES SHOULD BE FULL TIME TEACHERS. SO ELDER WELLS, IN HIS TALK, WAS ABLE TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE CONTACTED AND INVITED OVER 50 MEN TO CHURCH THIS WEEK, AND NOT A SINGLE ONE WAS AT CHURCH. HE DID A REALLY GOOD JOB HELPING THEM TO REALIZE THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE ABLE TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL WITH THE HELP OF THE WARD.

ONE COOL STORY IS ON WEDNESDAY WE WERE TALKING TO THIS RICH MAN (HE EVEN HAD A CAR!) AND WE OFFERED TO PUSH HIS CAR TO BUMP START IT. WE PUSHED AND PUSHED BUT IT WOULDN'T START, THEN THIS 12 YEAR OLD KID CAME OVER AND RIGHT AFTER WE STOPPED, HE PUSHED IT A LITTLE FURTHER AND IT STARTED. WE DON'T USUALLY CONTACT KIDS, BUT WE STARTED TALKING TO THIS KID AND SET UP A TIME TO COME BACK AND TALK WITH HIS FAMILY. WHEN WE RETURNED, JOÃO PEDRO (THE KID)'S MOM AND GRANDMA WERE BOTH SUPER HAPPY TO SEE US AND REALLY WERE INTERESTED IN OUR MESSAGE. HIS MOM, CASSIA, SAID THAT SHE HAD BEEN PRAYING THE LAST FEW DAYS FOR SOMETHING TO HELP JOÃO PEDRO (APPARENTLY HE'S STARTING TO BE REBELLIOUS), AND SHE BELIEVES THAT WE ARE THE ANSWER TO THAT PRAYER! THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT TO CHURCH, BUT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO TEACHING THEM AGAIN.

IT'S HOTTER HERE THAN IT WAS IN GARANHUNS, AND EVEN LOUDER AND MORE CHAOTIC. IT'S STILL NOT AS HOT AS SOME ALABAMA DAYS.  TOO BAD WE CAN'T SHARE SOME OF OUR HOT SUNSHINE HERE WITH YOU GUYS. I'D BE DOWN WITH THAT. 

THE FOOD IS ALL THE SAME, BUT I LIKE IT SO IT'S ALL GOOD. SMOOTHIES ARE REALLY CHEAP HERE SO WE GET THEM LIKE EVERY DAY. LIKE AROUND 90 US CENTS FOR A JAMBA JUICE TYPE SMOOTHIE BUT BETTER AND WITH WEIRD FRUITS. I'M ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE BETTER, AND I USUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT, ALTHOUGH KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE SAYING--NOT QUITE.

THANK YOU GUYS AND GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING!