4-22-08

Subject: I could use about 5 P-days in a row.

Hello Everybody!

So, quick review of last week:
We spent a few hours of our free time on P-day teaching again. My companion is telling us that we have to get our priorities straight. "Sleeping and writing letters are much more important P-day activities," he says. We´re actually an amaz/ing companionship. Both of us are still very new on the mission and still learning Portuguese. It has been making us rely much more on the Lord to keep the work going.
Last week was really amazing. We found 19 new investigators and we also have 19 investigators with a baptism date.
We´re teaching a new family (José, Iolanda, Karina, and Maria José) that went to church all by themselves last Sunday after we had only taught them one time. Their baptism date is the 17th of May.
Last Sunday night, all of our appointments fell through (again) and I asked my companion what we should do. I had decided to give him more chances to lead.
"You´re supposed to receive half the revelation in this companionship," I had told him.
Then he pointed down the road to some people in the distance. "Them."
"Ok."
We ended up finding and teaching one more family that week and set baptism dates with all of them on the first lesson. I have recently dubbed my companion "Co-Senior" to replace his title of "Junior." I think it´s a little more fitting.
Well, all of our baptisms fell through last week. Milaine and Anderson had to postpone their dates to this coming Saturday. Lucas´ mom heard some reports about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The one with Polygamy and stuff). She thought it was our church and wouldn´t let him get baptized, or even let us explain to her. We´re praying for the Lord to soften her heart so she will let Lucas be baptizes and so that we can end up teaching the whole family.
Evelyn has fallen back into some practices that are preventing her from being baptized. Her problem now is that she has lost the desire to change. :(
We had interviews with President Teixeira last Thursday. He brought us mail and the package with peanut butter! He told me to start preparing spiritually for a special blessing that he will give me next transfer. This will be my first blessing from a General Authority! (He was set apart as part of the First Quorum of the Seventy last General Conference.)
On Saturday evening, we decided to do a "church run". We went through as much of our area as possible visiting any investigator we have every taught to give them a special invite to come to church. To anyone who was not at home, we left special invites with the address of the church. It wasn´t too successful, but we enjoyed it, and at least we´re giving people the opportunities.
Well, the work is amazing. Keep sending letters even if I don´t have time to write back. Choose the Right! Endure to the End! The Church is True! ... You know, all those short quick phases that work as good letter enders.
-Elder Jason Morgan Allred