Week Eighteen

Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 8:12 AM



Hi Mom!


This week´s flying by, I can´t believe it´s P-day already! Only 17 more days and we´ll be talking on the phone. I can´t believe that I´ve already been out here for four months. It feels like more sometimes, but others it feels like a week or two. I´ve been out in the field for two months already, too! Everyone always says that the time passes quickly on the mission, but I guess that I never really thought about it. It feels like I´ve just written you guys!


I hope you guys are doing ok up there, and that the holidays aren´t wearing you out too much. Things are busy here for the people in the city, which can make it more difficult to find people when they´re in their houses, but we´re still doing really well. The goal for the mission is 21 lessons each week for each companionship, and we haven´t reached it yet, but I know we will this time around. I´m starting to understand more about the attitude I need to have as a missionary. There were times when it was hard to want to work or talk to people because a lot of people say no, but now, I just want to work so that the people here have the chance to receive the Restored Gospel of Christ. It´s really been rewarding this week to work for the sake of saving souls, and not for getting numbers or baptizing so many people. It´s been great, because I usually am totally spent by P-day, and now I´m just ready to continue working.


We can´t really work on the days close to Christmas I would assume, but we´ll try. Schools here don´t close until the 22nd, so people will still be around, but some close on the 18th and there´s a few other factors so we´ll see. We get to stay out until 11 on Christmas Eve if we have a ride, so that´ll be fun. If we have a ride. Not sure what Christmas will be like.


I miss you guys a lot, but I know that you´re doing fine and that we´ll all be blessed as we do what the Lord has asked of us. And sometimes, even if we are doing all of the right things, we´ll still be challenged in ways we don´t understand, but as it says in Mosiah 23:21, we´re tried to test our patience and our faith. I know that as we continue to put our trust in the Lord and work, even if it is difficult, we´ll be able to bear all of the burdens that are placed upon us. I´m already a different person because of this mission, and I know I´ll continue to change, spiritually, mentally, and physically as well (I´ve already lost 10 kilos!) I love you Mom, and I hope you´re having an awesome Christmas season. I know it´s your favorite :)


Love, Eric









Hey Dad!

I´m glad to hear that things are going well, even if it´s a little chilly. You can send some of it our way, I´m sure they´d appreciate it. This week´s been more rainy than hot; we had about half the people we normally have at church because it was raining so hard. I never thought that that could impede someone, but I guess if you´re walking and some of the roads aren´t paved it could be a problem. There are so many things that I never considered before because of the life that we lead in the United States, even the poor people! It´s crazy to think that up there, everyone has water to drink, but the people here have to buy tanks to put on the top of their house to be the source of their plumbing. It´s not everyone that has that kind of a situation, but it´s still so different to think that things we never even think about become huge issues here. There are days when half the city doesn´t have water, and the other half has water that isn´t safe. I´m learning to be so grateful for the things I have.

We don´t really have a ward council, but we meet with the branch president and the elders´ quorum president every Sunday morning, when we´re not visiting investigators´ houses to invite them to church. Church starts at 9, but we´re usually there at around 8, and we usually stay until around 1, but it depends on if we´re cooking our own lunch or not. The main stays for food are rice, beans, and pasta (I´ve made lasagna a few times, but it´s usually just spaghetti. Nothing too strange yet.) I´m looking forward to trying some more authentic Brasilian food soon. A lot of people here are Ukranian, and one of the members knows how to cook Ukranian food, so I might learn from her one day when we have time!


We´re still working hard out here, and I think things are going to be great this Christmas. We´re working hard with involving the members in the work, and it´s been going really well. Do the missionaries do a lot of divisions with the members at home? It´s really a great opportunity to get to know new people and it strengthens your testimony, too. I´m really glad to hear some people have accepted the gospel there, that´s awesome! I hope everyone helps them stay strong in the church, a lot of the problem here was that the members struggled with integrating the new converts. We´re working to change that, though.



I love you dad!

Love, Eric