Serra - Week Ten

This week really had some ups and downs. Interesting week.

Here's something I know you'll love to hear. So, I’ve been having eye problems for a few months now, I always have red eyes, and stuff. I didn’t know why. This last p-day I went to the eye doctor in Vitoria, and he checked it out. Basically, I need glasses. And because I don’t have them, I’m straining and overworking my eyes, making them be red and having irritation. Just a heads up. He gave me eye drops which are helping with the redness, but this is just a temporary solution, and so I’ll probably need to get glasses before coming back home. So I don’t know exactly how we'll work that out. haha oh yes........

Anyway, we worked well some of this week. We didn’t do well some other parts of this week. Things that we did well, we left with a lot of members this week. It was really great; it helped us out a lot. I think that it helped some of our investigators as well. Another good thing that we did was that we marked a bap date with a young man named Jefferson. He's really cool. He's 17 but he understood our message and without a problem he accepted the invite. He also said that he would go to church without a problem, but, when Sunday came, his whole family was going to his grandma's house so he couldn’t go, and was a little disappointed about that. He promised that next time he will. I’ll keep you updated on him.

We (kind of-not really) got into a Bible bash....The family was really nice, but the man didn’t want to accept Joseph as a prophet because of the research that he had done (he is a historian) but never prayed to ask if the Book of Mormon is true. It was a really cool family; I liked them, except that when I was trying to bear my testimony they kept interrupting. haha Annoying. But that’s okay. When people already have an opinion formed, usually they don’t want to change. And I don’t like the way that so many people idolatrize the Bible. Many of the evangelicals here talk about the Bible like its perfect, and that literally it is all anyone needs. Interesting.

I had a division this week with the ZL Elder Aguaysol, the guy from Argentina that I was with in Linhares. It was really good, he helped me to do a lot of things that I have been forgetting to do. I liked it a lot.

Well, this week I had some more problems with the comp, but not really on my side. I was fine, and again he didn’t want to do a certain thing while planning because he thought it was too far. I tried to help him see the importance of working hard, and shared the mission experience of President Hinckley, "forget yourself, and go to work" but I still couldn’t get him to agree. So, after a day of problem solving and talking with the Zone leaders, we got everything worked out and the end of that day and the next we worked really well. It was excellent. Then yesterday, we got a call that he was being emergency transferred. =( I was kinda disappointed about that. So today I'll get a new comp.

and yeah, Vitoria is sweet. too bad I don’t work there. haha. There is a river somewhere here in Serra. It's not in my area either. Vitoria reminds me of San Diego. =) There is a beach close by to where I am. When we have zone conference we go to a chapel in Vitoria really close to the beach.

Well I guess that's about it.

Interesting that while I was talking with this man who was trying to have a bible bash, its seemed as though he was trying to convince me to stop believing in the things I know to be true. But thinking back at all of the spiritual experiences that I've had throughout my life, there is no way that it's not true. Especially my testimony of the prophet. Something that always comes to mind is Elder Holland's conference talk about the Book of Mormon. Something that I know to be true, and nothing would be able to convince me otherwise. No amount of study could change that. Because God told me that it was true. And so I can't change my mind about that. And that's what I told that man.

Sometimes I think that it's incredible that people don’t believe our message or even do the things for them to know like read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. It's SO much to know, and only requires a simple step of faith. But that’s what separates the elects from those who don’t want the truth.

Thanks for everything Mom and Dad. I've really been able to reflect on the lessons that you have taught me and I'm really glad that you are my parents.