May 7, 2012 (letter)
Family,
So, a lot’s been going on here since I
last wrote you all. Wow, it’s been an
amazing few weeks. Well, you all already
know that I was called as a Trainer this past week. I couldn’t even believe it when I was
called. It was on Sunday the 29th
of April, and we had had the baptism of Zenerda that day so we were pretty
happy. Elder Lopes and I had finished
planning and I was changing my clothes when we got a call from the Zone
leaders. Elder Lopes said it was for me,
and gave me the phone. The Zone Leader
then told me I had to go to a training conference the next day, so that I could
be trained as a Trainer. WOW!! I was so surprised. Here I am, a Missionary of 7 months. I still have a ton to learn. I was a bit overwhelmed, and worried at the
prospect of training a new missionary. I
didn’t sleep much that night.
The next day we had the training
conference which helped, and also I had an interview with President
Cordon. He said a bit about the
responsibilities of a Trainer, and then said that the Lord had chosen me for
this calling. “It was pretty clear to me
that the Lord wanted you to train,”
President Cordon told me. That
helped too.
After that on Tuesday I already had to
go get the new missionary. So I went and
met my trainee -- Elder Little.
Elder Little is an Athletic American from Southern Utah. He is ready to
work which is most important. Even
though he doesn’t speak the language well, we’ve been working pretty well
together. He’s got a good practical
sensibility. Like he’s way more
practical than me. I’m just kind of a
nerdy punk from Cali, and he’s a farmer from Utah that was on the football and
basketball team. So, when he gets the
language down, he’ll be a monster of a missionary.
May 14, 2012
Alright, so I didn’t get the chance to
finish my letter last week, so now I’ll finish it up. Yesterday was Mother’s Day! Wow, it was so good to see you all. It felt like a long time since I’ve seen you
already. I hardly even remember what we
talked about, it was just so quick. It
appears that you’re doing well, and that the Lord is blessing our family. I can’t believe how big all of the babies are
already. They’re going to be adults when
I get back.
So how was Mother’s day? Did everyone call you? What did they do at church at Mother’s
day? It’s weird to think that I only
have two more calls home now – this Christmas and in a year. The time is just going to fly by.
Elder Little liked the Mother’s day call
too. I think he was worried about
whether it would work out with the Skype.
That was good that you helped out his family beforehand. He really enjoyed it, and I got to talk to
his MOM for a bit and reassure her that he is in good hands (I know I shouldn’t
lie)
Also, as you noticed, I was at the same
place that I was at Christmas. The
family that let us use skype is a really good family, always helping out with
the ward. They’re son, Lehi (That’s not
how you spell his name, but it’s basically Lehi) got back form his mission in
Recife, Brazil like a year ago. He’s a
really good helper to us.
So, I definitely forgot to ask you guys
a million things and I’m sure that you guys didn’t get to ask everything you
wanted. Mom, how’s your calling? How is our neighbor doing? How do you guys
like being involved so much in the Ward?
Dad, what are some challenges that you’re having with your calling? How do you like it? How is Autumn doing with school? How were the AP testing? I forget was it just AP History that you
took? So Avatar: The Legend of Korrah
isn’t that good. Too bad L
Here in the mission field Elder Little
and I are just working hard to find the Lord’s elect. We don’t have any baptismal candidates super
promising right now, but our recent converts are doing really well. The only big let down is the Peterson family,
they’re pretty much inactive, and they don’t go to church even though we pass
by all the time. The rest, however, are
doing really great. I’m really happy
with these people.
Alright, time for the weird thing here
in Brazil…..
I love the pictures!
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