Family nightWell I kicked things into overdrive this week, and my companion was not really pleased about it. He basically stopped talking for the last four days because I became more serious about our work. I hope he stops this "Frescura" soon so that he doesn't suffer too much lol.
This weekend we fasted (Along with you guys, THANK YOU!) for more new investigators that would be able to understand what we teach and want to learn. (This is the most confusing keyboard I have encountered to date, please excuse my poor grammar/formatting.)
But anyway, it's safe to say that we have found a ton of really good people to teach since that fast, and we have a few new people that have great potential. I would like to talk specifically about one special family: Ronaldo, Geraci, and Leonel.
But anyway, it's safe to say that we have found a ton of really good people to teach since that fast, and we have a few new people that have great potential. I would like to talk specifically about one special family: Ronaldo, Geraci, and Leonel.
So Ronaldo and family are different from our other investigators. Why? Because they aren't Brasilians. Well, really they are, but according to the opinion of the majority of the country they are foreigners.
They are Native Americans. Quick note: the Portuguese word for Native Americans is "Indios", which quite literally translates to the racist English word "injuns". But in Portuguese it is politically correct.
Anyway, so Ronaldo, his family, and a few other families live in these wooden shacks in this little forest park in the middle of our area. Indians here have a lot of rights, so they now own the park. They have a chief named Valdir, but we have not met him yet. We taught a small group the first time we went there, and it was nothing extraordinary, but Geraci said that she would go to church with us.
So Elder and I were talking a lot about what might happen when the members realized that we were teaching the Indians that invaded the park. So we prayed a lot that they might be well integrated and accepted by the members. In the end, it went perfectly. Lots of members talked to them a lot and helped them in everything. This one lady invited them over to her house to watch a movie with us yesterday, which was a great experience.
We have tried to get people to open their homes for stuff like this in the past, with little success, but now the members have become proactive and are doing exactly what Preach my Gospel teaches them to do. We will talk about the Book of Mormon on Friday, and it should be incredible considering that the Book of Mormon was preserved primarily for them.
They are Native Americans. Quick note: the Portuguese word for Native Americans is "Indios", which quite literally translates to the racist English word "injuns". But in Portuguese it is politically correct.
Anyway, so Ronaldo, his family, and a few other families live in these wooden shacks in this little forest park in the middle of our area. Indians here have a lot of rights, so they now own the park. They have a chief named Valdir, but we have not met him yet. We taught a small group the first time we went there, and it was nothing extraordinary, but Geraci said that she would go to church with us.
So Elder and I were talking a lot about what might happen when the members realized that we were teaching the Indians that invaded the park. So we prayed a lot that they might be well integrated and accepted by the members. In the end, it went perfectly. Lots of members talked to them a lot and helped them in everything. This one lady invited them over to her house to watch a movie with us yesterday, which was a great experience.
We have tried to get people to open their homes for stuff like this in the past, with little success, but now the members have become proactive and are doing exactly what Preach my Gospel teaches them to do. We will talk about the Book of Mormon on Friday, and it should be incredible considering that the Book of Mormon was preserved primarily for them.
Other news in the district, another elder wanted to go home because of depression. Missionaries here do a lot of weird stuff. He ran from the house in nothing but garments the other night. I dunno what he was trying to do or what caused that, but in the end his companion was transferred and a new missionary will arrive sometime today to help Elder _____.
That's about all I have, I'm glad everything is good with the family. Tell Barb that I continue praying for her and wish her well. STAY IN SCHOOL!!!!!! I got letters from Philly, Zach, Bert, and Elder Ellis yesterday.
Love
Joseph
P.S. I am getting pretty strong, I can now do ten consecutive pull-ups
"But look how they treat us
Make us believers
We fight their battles
Then they deceive us
Tried to control us
They couldn't hold us
Cause we just move forward
Like Buffalo Soldiers"
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