We have started teaching English again. We stopped for a 2-3
weeks as only 2-3 people showed, but some people are asking for it so we are going
to give it a try. I have also decided that missionaries get really excited really
easily. Just about anything can excited a missionary. We also invited everyone to
bring a kilo of food to help a family who is going through a lot of trouble. The
daughter is a member, and the mom wants to be but needs her own house and a job
first.
As for the photos, the first should be self explanatory; we got
to go to a wedding. They are all members and they got married in the chapel this
Saturday. It was awesome. The second is a picture from our doorway. Yep that is
our church out here in Rio Largo, and we live right in front of it. The third is
a young mens and young womens activity me and Becker dropped by. They were preparing
for Super Saturday, and they made headbands which said "SUD" which is
the Portuguese version of LDS. So overall we are doing well. Oh we also got a small
electric piano thingy that me and Becker are practicing with.
Editor's comment - The following is from a handwritten letter from the same time:
I will try to write more often. A bit has happened. First though, I should write about the work. It is coming along slowly. There are some issues in the Branch we are working on, but mainly we are trying to find new people. We can find plenty of people to talk to, but often there is a problem with going to church or getting baptized. We currently have one family and two other women we are teaching. I don’t know if anything will happen with the family as the Grandma is a firm Catholic believer. One of the women knows the Branch President so she has a good chance to progress. The other I’m not sure about. She enjoyed the lesson and said she would pray and read the Book of Mormon. She did at first tell us that her pastor said not to go meet us.
One day I had a division with my (LZ in Portuguese), zone leader, Elder Biddulph. We did some contacts and visited some investigators. Then we went to family night. That was a half hour walk away and I got lost on the way, so I am glad we left early. Overall it was good. That was on Friday the 17th. On the 23rd, Wednesday, we went out to Tabuleiro to do baptismal interviews for them. I got to do some visits with Elder Biddulph in his area while Elder Becker, my companion, did the interviews.
On the 28th, Tuesday, we had another division in Rio Largo. However, this time it was with the young men. Yep, not even past 3 months and I got to be the senior. But all the appointments we planned for Wellington and me for the day fell through. Instead we did some contacts and visited some less active members. I thought it was pretty decent for a day with just me and a non-missionary.
Now the stuff for fun. Two things stick out in my mind. The first was on the 25th, Saturday, we got to go to a wedding. Two members got married in the chapel. It was awesome. They hung up balloons for decoration and we had an electric piano play the bridal march music. The second councilor to the Branch got to perform the ceremony and the quorum president gave a talk. After that was a party of sorts with music, cake, chocolate and soda.
The second amazing thing we did was to go to Severino’s roça. A roça is a farm-like place. It isn’t an American type of farm, but he does grow food on it. Basically it isn’t that organized. It is somewhat, but not as straight lined as American farms. Actually, we helped clear a path through a forested area with machetes. He also told us about a somewhat swampy forest like area not far away that was a tad dangerous. Afterwards I got to eat some food from the farm that we cooked on a fire. We ate it in his wooden hut with a plastic roof. I certainly had fun that day, even though the back of my neck got really sunburned.
So overall, the work is slow, but we are persevering. In our free time we have some fun but most of it is work. On that note, I am feeling tired. Until next time, or, até mais.
Elder Vincent Malmrose
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