This week was tough!! But we had a lot of good experiences. Pretty much sums up almost every week of the mission.
So last week we had met Adriano, and we passed by almost everyday this week. He has some difficulty with cigarettes. We're helping him with this to get ready for baptism and hoping he'll be ready for next week! We took him to the Campinas temple last week and he thought it was cool, then we gave a lesson in a waiting room area by the temple. On the temple grounds it has a complex with a distribution center, a cafeteria, and an apartment complex for people who have to travel far to visit here.
It was cool how we found Adriano. We received a reference from a member to visit someone named Adilson and went to his house, gave him and his neighbor the first lesson, and set an appointment to come back. When we came back, we knocked at the gate and this guy was like, hey Adilson moved yesterday to Hortolânida (another city). So we were like, está me tirando [are you kidding me?]. We went to his house...actually to explain better, there is a house in the front with three other little houses/apartments behind it, which is common in Brasil, and Adriano lived in one of the apartments. Sure enough, very empty. So we were like, poxa vida [such is life]. We asked the guys in the other apartments what happened and they didn't really know, but one of them was Adriano and he showed a lot of interest. We scheduled back a visit with him and the rest is history! So the purpose wasn't to teach Adilson, but Adriano.
In regard to your question Dad, I will study this week about Matthew 5:13-16 (let your light so shine). I like the part about how people will glorify God because of His disciples. I didn't understand this part until the mission. How can I influence people to glorify God? People glorify God when they understand who He is, and for this reason they understand how many blessings they have received and His plan for our lives and then proceed to give praises unto Him (or in other words, glorify Him). So how can I persuade people to know God? If people see in me what they desire (light, happiness, peace), they may decide to open themselves to do what I've done to gain light or happiness or peace, etc. And what I have done is try to know God. So there's a chain here. You shine your light, others see it and your good works, they want what you have, they apply the gospel and glorify God in the end.
HAVE A SPECTACULAR SEMANA [Week]! Eu amo vocês [I love you]!
Elder Bradford
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| Some pics of the mansion of a guy we visited this past week. He's the owner of a language school. The visit was cool! His house is enormous. There's this one room that has ping-pong, pool, and table soccer. There's a room that's just a theater. He has a tennis court in his backyard with a trampoline, soccer court, and pool...don't worry, we didn't go in the pool :-) |
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| This churrasqueira includes chicken hearts (mmmhmmm)! |
