Bom dia todos! [Good morning all]
So I wasn't transferred! Both Elder Mora and I stayed here in Nova Itália. When they announced it I was like, okay that's fine, let's work hard and find someone to baptize! This week we worked pretty hard.
We had only one new person we're teaching come to church, but this guy is awesome. His name is John and he lives with his wife and three teenage daughters. When we started to work in this neighborhood, we decided to tract on this one street, and when we knocked at their gate we talked a little with two of his daughters, and they were pretty cool but they said we could only visit on Saturday. When we get contacts like that we usually write them down and perhaps come back later. A few weeks after we pass by this house again, I don't even remember what day it was but we clap our hands [the method for 'knocking' at a home in Brazil], and John's wife answered and was really nice, but there was just her at home if I remember right. So anyways on the 22nd of December we were walking by the house again and it happened to be Saturday, everything was all working out so we decided to stop by. John was sitting out in front and we hadn't met him yet and I thought, oh great, here we're going to meet their controlling dad who won't even let us speak one word about religion, but we talked to him, asked if his daughters were at home, and he was like, yeah, I'll go get them. He returned with his wife and they were like really, really shy and he said they didn't want to talk with us right now. Then I said to him, call them again and tell them we have a Christmas present for them. So he returned and he was able to get one of his daughters to leave the house and talk to us. So we ended up sitting in the garage teaching the 1st lesson to John and this daughter. They are really smart and were understanding the lesson well. Then Elder Mora gave the lesson on the First Vision and John began to cry. He got all embarrassed, he was like, look at me, I'm crying! We were able to testify about Joseph Smith being a Prophet with power and they agreed to be baptized. John described what he felt (later he told us that he had never felt anything like it before) and asked us what it was. We explained about the Holy Spirit. It was a great lesson. They got really excited to read the Book of Mormon (the Christmas present I promised!).
When we finished it was pretty late and we were going to take the ônibus [transit bus] but he offered us a ride home, and since it was really, really late we actually accepted, and told him that we would show him the church building which is really close to our house. Unfortunately, John's daughter wasn't able to come with us to see the church building, but at least we went with John. We entered the building, showed him some of the rooms and then lastly we went to the Sacrament Room (I forget what it's called in English now) [Chapel]. Why did we do this? One of the training movies we had illustrated this with Sister missionaries taking a lady to tour the church building, and at the end they go to the sacrament room and as they stand there the Spirit touches her and testifies to her about everything the missionaries had taught. So we decided to put that to the test. We go into the room with John, we chat a little, explain a little, we weren't feeling anything but we decide to do a prayer. I asked John to offer a prayer but he initially didn't want to, he felt unprepared, but we gave him a little confidence, in the end he gave a prayer and got emotional again as he asked God for help with his family. He explained to us that there has been a lot of contention in his family because of religion, his wife is really committed to another church and he doesn't really follow any religion. I won't include all the details but his family is needing a lot of help. We promised him that he could be the example, the way to change his family for the better by going to church and living the gospel. He told us that he would try to go to church the next day. He didn't go. TO BE CONTINUED!!!!.....(mostly because I'm out of time)
So about Maria, the lady who saw the light by my head while we were teaching her. We passed by Saturday and she was with a visit, her daughter answered the gate. I asked her to ask her mom if she would be able to go to Church with us Sunday. She returned and her mom said that she wouldn't be going because she already has her religion. :-[
Yes, it's been getting pretty hot here. Although the weather is still unpredictable - sometimes when we leave the house the sky is filled with black clouds and we're sure it's going to rain, but not a drop falls. Other times we leave and there are clouds few and far between but during the day it finds some way to pour rain during the late afternoon. The hottest months in Brasil from what I've heard are January and February. It's not as hot here as you're probably imagining. Like, it's hot but it's not unbearable at all.
About goals, yes we make goals (or at least we're supposed to...) every day, every week, and every transfer. I also made some goals for 2013. One thing about goals - sometimes we start to fail in a long-term goal and we think, aw man I've already broken my habit or pattern, there's no use in trying to return to do it. We always have to remember why we decided to commit to the goal in the first place. Will I complete this goal just to say I completed 'x' goal, or will I complete it because there is some growth, some knowledge or improvement that I'll gain from completing the activity? One example is reading the scriptures everyday. I get going for a good few weeks and then one day I get real lazy and I don't read. Then I think, I've already broken my goal, why should I continue to strive to read everyday? I won't be able to say that I read every day in 2013, true. But the point of the goal is the spiritual growth that comes from reading. I think this has something to do with the Atonement. We sin and, filled with guilt we think, why should I try to return to the path? This is what Satan wants us to think. But if we can have that attitude of always returning to the path of righteousness every time we slip a little, then we will understand the power of the Atonement. I won't be able to say that I lived a perfect life, true. But the point of the Atonement is to learn to confide in God and let Him turn our weaknesses and failures into strengths. Yeah, just some thoughts I had :). My, oh my, I've learned a lot on the mission.
Okay, wow I wrote a lot today! Hope you all have a good and healthy week full of enriching experiences! Go tell people about the gospel!
Elder Bradford
