Well, I was transferred again. This is my fifth transfer including the CTM, and fourth in the field. This is my third area. I have yet to stay with a companion for more than one transfer. However, I really hope I stay here in Suzano for a while, and I would love to stay with Elder Pereira for a while. This is my first time in the Capital (São Paulo), and it is super cool. It isn't just buildings like I thought. It is a lot of houses! Our area is huge, but it is super cool. Elder Pereira is super awesome, too! He has exactly 6 more months than I do. He is from Goiás, Brasil. He is also coming off a tough companion, and he is super motivated to work, just like me. We worked so hard this week! It was awesome! We literally talked to everyone on the road and knocked so many doors. We made 25 new investigators and gave out 27 Books of Mormon! We taught the Restoration of the Gospel to anyone that would listen to us on the road or when we knocked a door. It's the best way to do a contact.
The church building is super cool here. It is two stories and has a basketball hoop. Elder Pereira loves basketball. He actually speaks some English, too. I´m going to do an English study with him every day to help him improve even more. The members are super awesome here. They are willing to help out the missionaries and are all pretty down-to-earth. I bore my testimony on the request of the Bishop, and it went really well. I think that I´ve started to gain the trust of the members here because they see that I am willing to work.
We did a service project this week for a school. One of the members of our ward is the director of the school, and the inside needs to be completely cleaned out. We helped him scrub walls and ceilings for a couple of hours. It was pretty cool. I discovered that one of the other Elders in my district, Elder Roniere, was taught by Riley Robertson, who is from my ward, the Mount Pleasant Ward! She served in Fortaleza and taught Elder Roniere a few years ago! It was super crazy to discover that!
This week, I recognized the Spirit guiding us to specific areas and people in multiple occasions. Here are a couple:
1. So, we spent 2 hours looking for a bar. Just kidding. We were looking for a house, but we didn´t have the address, just the road name and this bar as a reference point. We were looking for a particular person that we had made a contact with that seemed really good. We didn´t end up finding her, even when we found the bar, but we kept on looking for two hours because we really felt like we should. When we finally gave up, we looked in our planner for ideas. We ended up calling the number of another lady that we did a contact with but didn´t have her address. She answered the phone, and we found out that we were 3 houses away from her! It was super cool. We went there and gave her a Book of Mormon, and she got super excited. It was awesome!
2. Yesterday (Sunday) we tried to go visit a part-member family. When we got there, we found out that they had moved. We ended up being on the same street as an elderly couple that goes to church every week, but hasn´t been baptized. We went there and started talking with them. We explained about the Atonement of Christ, and how we need to follow the Gospel of Christ and make covenants and ordinances to feel all of the effects of the Atonement. We talked with them about baptism and found out that they haven´t been baptized because they are not legally married because they don´t have money. We made plans with them of how to accomplish these two goals. The Spirit was really present. It was awesome.
This week, I really recognized how much of a difference being optimistic makes. The choice to be happy can really affect everything. This week was really, really awesome.
I studied a little in 1 Nefi 17. In verses 1-2, I like the connection between affliction and blessings of the Lord. Anytime that we have trials, challenges, and hardships in our lives, we should look for the blessings and tender mercies of the Lord that are inevitably there. I also like verses 5 and 6. They reach the land of Bountiful. I think that one of the reasons that Laman and Lemuel had problems later on is that they mistook Bountiful for the promised land. It says that they were very content in Bountiful. We should be careful not to be content before we reach the Promised Land.
1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.
2 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.
5 And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.
6 And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.
I love representing the Savior in Brasil, I love my companion, I love the Gospel and Atonement of Christ, I love my family, and I love my Redeemer. I am ready and excited to work harder, learn more, and love better this week!
Love,
Elder Warren Matthew Dudley
Pictures:
#1 Elder Pereira and I in the apartment
#2 My first Monkey sighting!!
#3, 4, 7,8 Rose and Claudevandro’s house for lunch (Churrasco!!!)
#5 and 6 - The favela in Vila Fatima
#9 I Love Suzano!!!
