We went to the temple today. Instead of doing endowments like usual, my companion and I did confirmations. They have a beautiful baptistery. There were ten or so Elders doing baptisms. It was all in Portuguese! A pretty cool experience!
[Do you feel acclimated? Do you have any "down time" where you can just play the piano?] I feel mostly acclimated - sometimes the food makes me gag a little but it's overall pretty good. You reminded me - I never told you guys I was able to play piano for the missionary choir a few weeks ago. Every devotional (we have 2 a week), we have a few musical performances. There are a lot of opportunities to do music here, for sure. We have a few hours of study time a day, in which we may go to a classroom with a piano and practice a little. And then there's occasional down time and a convenient piano nearby. I've found that I am good at making jazz arrangements of hymns!
[What are your responsibilities as assistant to the Branch President?] The branch consists of four districts, around 30 missionaries or so. The district leader communicates to me any issues or concerns they have and I help resolve them. So far there have been problems few and far between. My biggest responsibility is managing sacrament and priesthood meetings. I delegate all of the things needing to be done for these meetings except for the talks -- in sacrament meeting, the president just randomly picks four missionaries to give talks - yay! There is also a meeting with the district leaders that I conduct.
[So, are you still on the 9-week training plan...any chance of it changing to 6 weeks like the other recent missionaries?] Haha, no we are 'stuck' with the 9-week plan. Many missionaries feel bad for us upon hearing we are a 9-week district, but I'm fine with it. Also, we received two roommates a week ago. Elder Ferreira is from Argentina and Elder Maciel is from southern Brazil. Elder Ferreira speaks a little English and Elder Maciel speaks none, so it's a little more of a challenge to communicate with them. I'm going to try and practice teaching a lesson to one of them this coming week and see how that goes.
[Dad is giving a talk on the Holy Ghost in a couple of weeks...have you had any recent experiences he could share?] We have talked quite a bit about the Holy Ghost, because it is absolutely critical for conversion! And because of this, it is important when teaching someone to help them understand when they receive promptings from the Spirit. You have to pinpoint situations in which they feel the Spirit so that they can do a comparison -- or you ask them what are they expecting the Spirit to feel like. Irmao Vilas Bons said something very interesting -- you cannot read a book written by revelation and believe it without revelation. So, the Holy Spirit is something someone must feel and understand for any change of heart to occur, and for the Livro De Mormon to affect their life. This also means that we must teach with the Spirit, because he will carry what we say past their ears and to the heart. That is what I'm learning to do. It is all about preparing sufficiently beforehand, but still teaching in a flexible manner, relying on the Lord and not preaching your "own understanding".
I just want to say that I have been sooo grateful these last few weeks for the example you and dad have set for us with your strong testimony of the Church and of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and love -- I look forward to sharing experiences with you next week!
LOVE YOU! Amo voce!! Tem mais!!!
