June 1, 2010

How are things going? good it seems. sounds like things are settling down at home with summer break coming along. haha thats good. i should be running every morning, but 630 comes awefully early for me sometimes and i dont want to be sore while trying to walk up all the hills and stairs here in ilheus. I want to run, but maybe if i get another flat area. we will see. Yes, time does fly by fast. its crazy sometimes. its been over 9 months. but thats good though. haha

My companion is Brazillian, from Rio de Janeiro. He speaks a little bit of english, most stuff that we are teaching him. so i think he could be fluent by the end of his mission. so we will see how that goes. he helps me with portugues and i help him.

Yes, i can buy memory cards. ill send a message if i ever need to buy one.

Home teaching is very important, they are the missionaries for the members. The ones to help if help is needed and to constantly help uplift the saints. They are very important.

(Shelly wanted to know if he received her B-day card?)
havent gotten any mail yet, so probably next week at zone conference ill get it. wow, zone conference is next week. holy moly, time flies slowly! Haha

So i cant remember everything i said in the recording, so i may have some repeating things. One cool thing that happened this week, is sunday an australlian visited our ward. He doesnt speak any portugues though, so he picked the right chapel to go to. Pickering and i helpéd him out that day. Then yesterday and today, we met up with him to help him out with some stuff and he took us out too lunch also. He is like 40some and has 5 children, he is retired, bored, and has a little bit of money to do stuff. U will see him in some of the pictures if im able to upload them. Hes really cool and im glad i was able to be here to get to know him.

Let see, what else. Ah... i had some cool gospel moments. On sunday we had to pick a scripture that helps in missionary life. I picked alma the youngers conversion. I made up the following on the spot while i was sharing it (inspiration/revelation? i think so). I was thinking how he was rebelious and going around doing things contrary to the gospel and i likened that to the life of a missionary before the mission. We are a bit rebelious and the gospel hasnt really become an important part in life. Then we get our call, and this time on the mission is when we are truelly(depends on the person) converted and gain that eternal perspective of life, how somethings that didnt seem that important really are. it really hit me and made me think how much a blessing the mission is in my life.

Also, i have been reading in the old testament, since i decided to read all of the bible now. I have been understanding a great deal. I think i was too young and inattentive in the past to really understand some of the things in the bible , but its really been alot different, the experience of reading it now. I was reading about when Abrahams servant was sent out to find a wife for Isaac. He stopped at the well, and asked God how he was going to find the right woman and if she was the one, she would reply in a certain way. The first women he talked to after that prayer ended up being the one designated by God since she answered in the certain way. this is kind of like missionary work. We tell God what we are going to do and we are going to do it, and how the people react to our message will reveal if they are an elect or not. Ive just been connecting stories like this in ways i never would of thought before. Its really cool, haha.

Also, i was listening to a couple talks about Patience and its true, to be perfect we need to have Godly patience. The Isrealites waited 40 years to enter the promised land, JAcob waited 14 years for Rachel and many stories of godly patience. I know im learning to have that. Ex; since reading my blessing and being out on the mission for almost a year, ive learned that we have to sometimes wait awhile to gain blessings. Man, im growing alot, haha. anyways, so those were my spiritual/gospel events of the week.