July 7, 2009

Jason's Letter:

Subject: Sprint to the finish!

Hello Everybody!

Ok, all the abnormal, crazy things that happen would just take too long to explain, so I'll stick with the ordinary stories for now.

Elder Young and I have been working our tails off. It's true. In fact, I can't find my tail anywhere.

Friday:
We taught seminary! On Wednesday the teacher asked me to teach the class for Thursday because there are about 6-7 non members going. I asked her what the lesson was on. She said Acts 17 and 18. I recognized an amazing oppotunity and asked when she would teach Acts 19. She said Friday, and I asked it could be Friday instead. She said ok. Acts 19 is excellent to teach about the importance of Priesthood authority for performing baptisms.

Saturday:
The Bishop and his wife, Giselle, took us to eat at a restaurant overlooking a lake. On the way there and the way back, they showed us the ward. Go to Google Earth. We're in São Bernardo. Our area goes from the center of town all the way to the ocean. It looks like it takes about 5 hours to walk by foot.
We taught Adalberto the Plan of Salvation. It took a while to get 'agency' down because of all his questions. I'm excited because he's showing that he really wants to know the truth.

Sunday:
Adalberto went to church all by himself for the second time! Yeah! Maria, Josué, Brenda, and Francisa were also their. Brenda and Josué were confirmed! Woohoo!
We taught Thomas and his family. He is one of the youth that we taught in seminary. He accepted a baptismal goal for a few weeks from now.

Monday:
We went to contact a reference, and after searching through all the allyways, we finally found the house we were looking for. The person wasn't home, so we following a basic principle for Ch. 9 in PMG - we knocked the door at the next door neighbor's home. Surprise! Golden family! David and Pricila accepted to be married and baptized here in a month. The marriage should be about a 3 week process, so that should give them time before I leave.
Adalberto is our most progressing investigator. He always has the most interesting and intelligent questions. However, the Spirit always helps us know what to say. Elder Young is getting to the point where he can teach a few of the principles in Portuguese. We took Paulinho there with us. He's a 18 year-old preparing for a mission. His parents don't want to let him (they're not members). I was surprised at his scriptural knowledge for only being in the church for 3 years. When we taught the Word of Wisdom, Adalberto said that he adored coffee. Paulinho (the member) shared some really good personal experiences that helped Adalberto accept the commandment.
One member (Nivaldo) that was baptized almost a year ago took his nephew to church on Sunday. We also taught him and his mother and sister yesterday. They said that they had been studying with another religion, but when they moved here a year ago, they never picked it back up again and were looking for some sort of a spiritual basis for their family. Woohoo!
We're teaching a family of 6 (Francisco, Francisca, and kids). They're getting kicked out of there home for lack of payment and don't have anywhere to go. Let's always be grateful for the blessings that we have.

Today:
I got my hair cut. When I told her to use a '2' on the back, I meant to say '3', but there's enough time for it to grow a little within the next month. It really doesn't look bad, I'm just not used to it this short.
I made mashed potatoes with some sort of meat that was in the fridge when we got here. Elder Young said that he's never made mashed potatoes before. Oh the deprivation of living outside Idaho!
I finally got around to unpacking my bags from the transfers last week.


Well, Goodbye for now!
Love you all!
--
Elder Jason Morgan Allred