This was another great week in the beloved Salvador!
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| Found Herbie's Sister Maria... |
THis week was pretty normal, compared to the past two weeks. We didn´t have any meetings with president. President has been travelling for the week to the other zones to do the zone conferences. He decided to have us stay and work in our area. So we have been working hard. We met with him on Monday though to talk about all this. Also, President told us that Valença (one of my old areas) Is now a Branch! AND that Ednaldo was called as Second Counselor. SO that was awesome to hear. That made me super happy.
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| Mayana and Ednaldo |
We ended up spending all of Tuesday in the office finishing off these Number booklets. We did them earlier, but president wanted to make a couple of changes to make sure it was perfect for this year. So we fixed it all, printed it out, punched holes in the pages, and spiralled it up with that black plastic spiral.
The rest of the week we worked hard and taught great lessons. Our group is growing and we are meeting new people. We visited a new member named Ana Rita and we met her husband, who isn´t a member... yet. We talked with him for a while and made a friendship with him through talking about Guitars and stuff. Then we talked about the First Vision. We showed the "Ask of God" First vision video and the spirit was very strong. We then taught him about it and bore our testimonies. We were almost crying. Pretty awesome. I hope that he gets baptized, that would really transform him and the family.
Another great lesson that we taught that really hit me was when we were teaching a man named Omar. He is a member´s friend and is very friendly. He had previously told us that he is 'cold' towards churches and things like that. He stated that he was willing to hear our messages but that he wasn´t ready to go to visit any church. We entered into his house prepared to share the message of the Book of Mormon. However, the Spirit directed us to teach the Plan of Salvation. We taught it. It went super well. He believed it all and was very impressed with how much sense it made. He said that it was similar to the Spirit Religion to which he pertained. He liked it so much that out of nowhere he blurted, "You know what? I will go and visit your church. I need to see what it is like" So he told us he will go this Sunday and we will pass by his house to go with him.
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| Yes there is Pizza in Brazil! |
We also taught a lady named Edinivalda. She has been an investigator for a long time. She hasn´t been baptized because she had previously been living with a man. But, they got separated and she is able to be baptized. She accepted to be baptized but said that she wants to wait until March to resolve some things. She tried to convince her that she can be baptized much sooner but she wasn´t willing to change. Which can be a problem because she won´t tell us what it is that she needs to resolve. But we taught her and showed her the same video. It was cool. We bore our testimonies and then we talked to her how important it is to read the scriptures and pray every day and to go to church. We told her that these simple things will prepare her for baptism and that she will feel ready. So we made goals for her to fulfill each of these commitments. We will go to her house to take her to church as well.
We have other investigators that we are teaching but these were the experiences and lessons that stood out to me.
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| There are thousands of houses on top of these hills. It looks like a giant wall of houses. |
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| This city, Brotas, is a tiny part of Salvador...it is the poor area. This is where we work:) |
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| Those tiny little lines going down the hill of houses are 'roads'. It is like a labryinth down there. AND there are houses on top of one another. But different people live in every level. So it is super crazy. |
SO to explain the topic of the email. Our house in Brotas has been INFESTED with Cockroaches for years. IT is sooooo nasty. There was so many cockroaches.When we arrived we threw out a lot of the furniture and even the stove. Because it was all really old and fulll of baby cockroaches. We needed to call Midwest Pest Control. But I didn´t have their number. So we took this matter into our own hands. We bought a ton of cockroach poison dens and spread it through our whole house. So the cockroaches would walk into the dens take the poison and bring it to the hive. Then, all of the bugs would eat it and die. IT WORKED. hahaha Everyday, we would walk inside our apartment and see and least 100 dead cockroaches on the floor. It was like that for a whole week. haha
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| My companion Elder Thevenin does not like cameras |
ALSO, this week I have focused my study on the Atonement. I have understood so much more about the doctrine, importance, and effect that it has on our lives. My mind has been opened.. a little. There is still so much that I don´t know. But, I recommend everyone to study this! It is something that every individual has to discover for him/herself.
Anyways things are great. AAND geez this is a big email. My mom is going to be so proud of me. hahah You´re welcome mom! Also, shout out to my beautiful sister! She is gonna be 17 and is the best basketball player that I know. She super nice and if any boy is looking for a girl to date, She is the one! But, they just gotta talk to each of her brothers first to see if he is worthy of her. ;) hahahha Just kidding. BUT Happy Birthday Sally!
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Davis