As always, the first week of a transfer is kind of nuts, and this one was no exception. On Monday night, we had some elders sleep over at our house (since our house is a street away from the Bus Terminal in Campo Grande) since they missed their buses. Gah! I hate having so many messy people in a house that want to eat all of your food. Caidaço. But, they left early in the morning, so that was good.
Tuesday, we had a short meeting with our new ward mission leader: Danny! Danny is awesome. He served his mission in Manaus (which is the Amazon rainforest mission) and he´s helping us to make this ward grow and get even better than it already is. We went and taught Jair and Eva (their granddaughters got baptized last week) and Danny helped us out a ton. He bore a powerful testimony that helped Jair decide to get baptized. "How can I support my granddaughters in doing what´s right, if I myself don´t follow?" That is what I´m talking about Jair.
Wednesday, I did a division with Elder Stuart which was bomb. We taught Guilherme and Thais´ mom, but unfortunately she´s got her heart in her other Church. At least she supports her kids and wants them to keep going to Church. But wake up! Your evangelical Church is a joke! But, everyone has their agency. We taught a member´s friend as well, whose name is Maria (go figure). She´s a sweet lady, but is a little slow. We´re helping her out.
Thursday, we got stuck at lunch for forever, while the other companionship taught Sister Maria Lúcia´s neighbor who came to lunch (and church!). Lots of things didn´t go as planned , but we went to our most important committment: Jair! Jair´s son tried to question us about some stuff, but the poor guy doesn´t even know what´s in the Bible. Don´t worry, there was no contention nor Bible bashing, just a calm explaining of things as they really are. Eva insists that we baptize this son of hers before she gets baptized. But, the guy doesn´t even want to learn with us! We have a challenge on the horizon.
Friday, the big day! Elder Bednar stopped by in Cuiabá and we got to watch the transmission of our 3 and a half hours with him. He is the most calm, forward, and direct person that I think I´ve ever seen. Elder Bednar had us ask him questions as well as conversing with the Elders in Cuiabá. It was an open air discussion, and he kept asking us, "What do you notice about the form of this meeting?" He was teaching us that we need to TEACH people and not just spout out information at them and expect them to be "taught." And to ask questions that make people think and learn at the same time. Elder Bednar laid down the law in quite a few areas where we have old Mormon traditions as well. Like the practice of writing down everything that people say and then never reading the notes again. We need to take note of our feelings, impressions of the Spirit, and what we have learned. It was amazing! Sadly, the transmission was not so hot, so I hope that they recorded it in Cuiabá. Having an apostle in our mission has surely helped me out and I have felt and seen many things that I need to improve on. And I know that this is just the beginning! Gah!
Saturday was a big ol´mess of interviews and quick visits to people to see who would go to Church and who wouldn´t.
Sunday was equally hectic. We had to call for last minute rides to take all of the girls to the Church to get confirmed (since Sacrament Meeting starts at 9 now with the new ward). But they all got confirmed! And we had plenty of investigators at Church. Best of all was Jair´s baptism after Church! His family was so excited and happy. We invited Gleidson to baptize him, because we love Gleidson. He´s only been a member for 4 months and he just ordained as Elder and called as the ward secretary. Yes! At night, we visited Sueli, whose kids came to Church with their member neighbors. Sueli is a perfect example of love! She takes care of her blind, memory stricken, and humble mom all day. We taught them the Restauration and after the first vision, we asked her if she believed that God answers prayers. Sueli said that after we passed by on Saturday, she prayed to know if this was the right path for her and her kids. She felt that if her kids came home happy, then she would know that it was what they were needing. Willian and Beatriz (her kids) came home bundled with joy and Sueli knew that this truly is the Church of Jesus Christ! Now they´ve accepted for us to help them get baptized!
Yet another hectic week is on the horizon, but I wouldn´t trade it for anything. This is the best ward that I´ve ever been in and it´s because they members make all the difference. Inviting their friends to Church and not being ashamed to talk about the gospel. Vamos avante nessa obra! Love ya! Did you know that you are my favorite family ever?
Yet another hectic week is on the horizon, but I wouldn´t trade it for anything. This is the best ward that I´ve ever been in and it´s because they members make all the difference. Inviting their friends to Church and not being ashamed to talk about the gospel. Vamos avante nessa obra! Love ya! Did you know that you are my favorite family ever?
-Elder Carpenter
