Here in Ji-Paraná, we got some rain! It rained for like the past 3 days! It has been heavenly. I´ve slept without a fan for the past couple of nights and it´s been amazing. Thank you for the prayers! It was awesome.
Well, my comp finally got here last week: Elder Dorneles. I had to spend the day with this one member here, Osmir, and it was funny. Elder Dorneles is from Rio de Janeiro (he´s got lots of stories) and is going home in 6 months. He was born in the Church, is a little serious at times, really smart, organized (our house is spotless) and I´ve gotten to like him. He´s about my height and is going to be a civil engineer after the mission. Elder Dorneles speaks English very well (literally the 2nd best English speaking Brazilian that I´ve met on the mission) and is really excited to get down to work here. His attitude is infectious, and I´ve gotten much more excited while being with him. We literally use all of our time wisely, which I am quite the fan of. We don´t waste time with people that don´t want to get baptized and we´re working hard, which is the only real way to be happy! I was complaining last week about having to stay here in Ji-Paraná, but I´m pretty sure that I´m staying here so that I can learn how to be an awesome missionary. And we go running in the mornings! Yes, for good exercise.
Happy Birthday Bryan! Womp. That´s awesome that he took advantage of all the free things in Mesa. That´s my boy! Ugh... I don´t approve of watching Sonic, but hey, 19 years and kickin! It made me jealous to hear that everyone got to eat at Golden Canyon. Those Chinese know how to make good chicken.
This week, we are going to be busy finding people. There is this one girl in the branch that got baptized in May (and is quite strong in the Church), and we marked her sister´s baptism for this Friday. She just turned 8 and her parents are all good with letting her get baptized. We´re adapting our teaching, so that she can understand the principles and it´s been fun. I feel quite strange teaching an 8 year old, but it´s all part of the mission!
Conference was awesome! What made it even better was that I got to watch it in English! After watching the 1st session in Portugues, I was having a hard time understanding things. Thankfully, the chapel has a little TV, and I got to watch the other 4 sessions with Elder Dorneles in English. He understand everything and prefers watching in English, so it was all good. It´s really boring to listen in Portugues, because the speaker´s lips don´t match what you´re hearing. My three favorite talks were Russel M. Nelson (Priesthood) about missionary work (he´s my hero), Matt Kearon (Priesthood; his Harry Potter accent was awesome), and President Monson from Sunday Morning. During President Monson´s talk I could feel the Spirit really strong. Talk about being grateful! I´m excited to read the Liahone next month.
Have a wonderful week family, and let´s put what we´ve heard from Conference in practice. The inspired messages that we´ve heard were truly amazing. Being on the mission, my perspective of things has changed so much during Conference. I wasn´t looking at my watch, waiting for it to be over, but rather looking at my watch and saying, "Oh my goodness! They´re only gonna get 2 more speakers in before the end of the session!" I´ve realized how real that the war is between good and evil in this world. Every choice that we make either helps us or hurts us. As long as we follow and have the Spirit with us, then we´ll know exactly what choices we need to make. So let´s just do it. I´m always praying for everyone at home, and thank you for your prayers! The Lord is blessing us.
Com amor,
Elder Carpenter
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