[I told him about BYU playing at Wyoming where it was -38 degress outside, and Fredette having a slim chance of passing Danny Ainge for the all-time BYU scoring title.] -38 feels the same as the 13 degree weather in Texas, trust me :) Ainge was also before they had any rules too, he probably just sat under the hoops the whole game making lay ups :) There was no goal tending too, so he just tipped the balls in to get more points.
[Thank you for sharing your testimony in Portuguese. I understood almost every word. I wish I could actually hear it spoken too.] You could just read it out loud and then you would hear it spoken....duh :)
[I mentioned some articles in the February New Era, one of which is also in the Liahona (one by Elder Godoy).] I actually don't get the New Era here. The Liahona is shipped on the back of a 2 legged donkey from the jungles of China because we still haven't gotten the Liahona from December. We still are using the General Conference issue. So maybe sometime in July I will get to read that article in the Liahona, but that's if the donkey makes it.
[Regarding article in New Era: "while they were eating in a community setting a kid nearby had taken the Lord's name in vain and been disrespectful and the grandfather as a young missionary finally had enough and came over and hit him in the shoulder and told him he wouldn't amount to anything in life if he didn't start doing things differently--probably not the normal contact approach."] I'm going to have to start using that contact technique, it's new and it might work. I don't have much this week since my companion was bed-ridden. We only left to go eat and teach one or two people. I did manage to get through half of Jesus the Christ though. I'm reading it for the second time to actually write more stuff in my scriptures etc. The rain has stopped for now and the glorious sun has returned to shine once again upon the hallowed, warm lands of Ceará. Everyone thinks I am crazy because I like the heat because all the missionaries are sweating their brains out but I'm doing fine...The members give me...spicy sauce?....I forgot what you call it in english...sauce of the chili? anyways they give it to me because I love it. Ceará is not known for spicy food so everybody has a fear of this sauce of the chili. They think I'm crazy when I put a ton of the weak sauce (haha) on the food. I blame you Dad. My Bishop told me the horror stories of serving a mission back in the day, sleeping on the ground, no fridges, no food etc. He only served in the 90s so I can only imagine how bad it was for you in the 80s....1780s that is! [Hm, was actually in the 70s, but the 1970s. AD, not BC.] But for real, missions are a piece of cake now, you just have to leave and teach people then come back home :)
Even though we didn't have much success this week we still had a wonderful miracle. I have been teaching this one family for the 4 months I have been here and the mom and the 2 daughters got baptized then one son....then the other son. We have been teaching the father the whole time but he never ever went to church. However, he started going to church these past few weeks. This is the first time in like 6 months that he has gone to church. He always promised me and the other missionaries that he would go every Sunday. We were excited and we started teaching him with new vigor but he didn't really want to be baptized and just wanted to chill. His wife had already switched all of the coffee with cevada so he had already stopped drinking without knowing. He smoked a few cigarettes but that's it. We stopped teaching him for awhile because he didn't want anything. This last Sunday, the 6th, he came to church again. I talked to his wife and she said he had stopped smoking. Then during the middle of sacrament, he turned back to me and yelled for me to come talk to him. He asked how many people are going to be baptized next week, I told him. He then told me that he wanted to be baptized too. What a miracle! It may seem to be just a story to ya'll at home but I love this family with all my heart and I have spent weeks, months trying to help complete their family. I have spent hours wondering what else I could do to help this man. I prayed a lot to stay in this area if it was the will of the Lord so that I could find people that maybe I had missed. I'm grateful that the Lord has helped this family and I will never forget them. Sadly, the kids don't like to get their pictures taken, but I have one of the parents :) Never give up, never say that it can't be done. Never stop doing what is right, because in due time, the time of the Lord, it will all be worth it. It will all work out. I know that it is the Lord's will to help His children. We just have to take the challenge and do our part. We all know a family or friend that seems "hard" or seems "hopeless" but they aren't. They need you! Maybe the Lord has sent YOU to help them, to be their angel to help them. I know the Lord is our Savior and that He loves us, everyone in the world. His purpose is to help us find the gospel and have everlasting life.
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