This week went by so quickly. It was another tough week but
it had its perks. The big news is that on 8th of this month I will baptizing an
investigator! Our investigator is Shaelly, a 17 year old girl. She is the
another grandchild of that one grandmother I talked a little about in a
previous letter, and is a friend of Nara. We still have a couple more lessons
to teach her but she is progressing and is stoked to be baptized. If everything
works out the way we planned I will have my first baptism before my next
letter.
Renatta is scheduled to be baptized also. She is planning on
the 22nd of this month. This would be very special because this is the day of
"Natal Branco" which means white christmas. It is very cool because
all the missionaries from the surrounding zones are coming to the stake center
in Porto Alegre with their invertigators to baptize. There should be a lot of
people, missionaries and investigators, all wearing white and getting baptized.
It reminds me of the story in the Book of Mormon where Alma is in the waters of
Mormon and he is just baptizing one person after the other, crazy!
This week I going to talk about my daily schedule. Every day
the clock starts ringing at 6:30 on the dot. I get up as fast as I can because
if I do not I will probably fall right back asleep. Once I'm up I say a prayer
and then hit the Book of Mormon, in English, for a solid 30 minutes. Then I
take a shower, make myself look pretty, make something to eat, and then iron
the shirt I'm going to sweat in that day. Usually once I have made it this far
it is 8:00 on the dot. Next, I hit the Book of Mormon, in Portuguese, for 30
minutes and then switch over to Preach my Gospel where I study, read, and write
out phrases in Portuguese so I have something to say regarding the lesson we
will teach that day. At 9:00 I switch over to companionship study. Right now we
are studying "The First 12 Weeks" which is for all new missionaries.
It teaches how we should approach people, what to look for while teaching, how
to feel the spirit and know what to say etc.. After this Elder Queiroz and I
practice a lesson or two. It can be rough for me at times because I get lost in
thought or tangled up in the language. By now it is close to 11:30 and time to
go to lunch. It takes us at least 20 minutes to walk anywhere in our area. We
have lunch with a member and leave with a message which we always tie into
missionary work. Elder Queiroz and I switch off days giving the message. Why
missionary work? This is because members are the most powerful tool in our arsenal.
We need them to spread the word, pretty much all our investigators are
references. After lunch is terrible because we are so full and it is flippin
hot outside and no one wants clapping outside their fence. This is how we knock
doors in Brazil, clapping outside their house haha. Generally, we have three or
four appointments throughout the day. These appointments are either
investigators, less-actives, or recent converts. The time in between is for
meetings, walking, talking, or doctor appointments for Elder Queiroz. They
never seem to end, maybe there is more to the story, who knows, but it burns
through my cash. Back to the Horario, or schedule. After all the this we make our way
back to the appartment, 9ish, plan, snack, shower, and go to bed. During this
time I have either the Bible or Principles of the Gospel open and I read and
study until I can't keep my eyes open, then I crash at 10:30. Rinse and repeat.
I have found an unquenchable thirst for gospel knowledge
since I got out here on the mission. Whenever we have down time Im reading
something. The scriptures have a whole new light to them since I have become a
missionary, it is like I'm reading everything for the first time. I think this
is why I am so fascinated by them now, I'm learning a lot. Also, I really want
to increase this knowledge so that people will recognize that I am a
representative of Christ, and so that I can anwser every question given to me.
Same goes for Portuguese. Im trying my hardest to pick-up the language as
quickly as possible. Whenever I'm listening in a conservsation I have a
dictionary that I am constantly flipping through.
Yep, this is a normal day for me. P-Day I get up and clean
the apartment. I sweep the floor, wash the dishes, and organize all my stuff.
If I'm luckly I will have some time to chill, write letters etc. but usually
Elder Queiroz has something he wants to do in the city center or something.
During the day we find a little internet booth and write to our families. By
six o' clock we are back at it, either a teaching appointment or family home
evening.
The work is good, always wishing for more. I have heard that
some of my friends here in Brazil are starting to check out my Facebook. The
internet is a pretty amazing place connecting pretty much everyone in the world
to each other. I also realize that it is very dangerous to have anything on the
internet these days. I'm taking a lot of caution with what I put in these
emails because I know that they will be on my blog. Members or
investigators can easily copy and paste anything put on my blog or Facebook
into an online translator. The spiritual and sacred moments on my mission are
kept in my journal for people to see one day. If I feel like I need to share
some experience I will send a seperate email for family and close friends to
read.
That's it for now, wish me luck this week.
Love,
Elder Miller
No comments:
Post a Comment