Week Sixty Five

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 9:19 AM

Hi Mom!

Things here are going really great; we baptized a kid whose parents were less-active, and now the whole family´s coming back to church! He´s the third generation of members in his family, and they were all there at his baptism, it was so cool. We´ve got a lot of work still to do, but I feel really good about what´s happening. I know if we keep working smart and doing it in the Lord´s way, we´re going to have a lot of success. I´m really excited to see how this month goes!

I try to write every day in my journal, but at times I get behind. Like now for example. But it really helps me to keep things in perspective and to practice my Portuguese. It´s one of the best parts of the mission to be able to write down all of the great experiences we have here.  It´s hard sometimes, especially because we get tired, but it´s so cool to look back at when I started my mission, in some of my areas and just think about how I felt and what I was thinking. I like it a lot, actually; it´s pretty funny. I didn´t like doing it at all before, but now it´s one of the best parts of my day.

Sister Cordon said she´d really love to have cranberries, and Elder Gill wants Pumpkin Pie, so do you think you could put some in the package? Just that can of like pumpkin puree or whatever you use to make the pie and a couple packages of cranberries (some dried too, if you could). Other than that, I´m not really needing anything. Thanks for being so willing to help, Mom! It´s going to be so much fun to cook for them this Thanksgiving.

I think our time difference will actually get bigger; we just sprang forward so we´re an hour ahead of normal. You guys will be an hour behind, and then there´s the normal time difference. I don´t even remember how it was last year, and it´s really weird to think that I´ve gone through this twice already! Time really is going fast.

I hope you guys are doing well, and that we can keep working hard so that we can get the blessings Heavenly Father wants to give us. All we need is to be obedient, and to do all of the things that he asked. Now´s the time when we´re starting to look at the big picture, and it´s making me see how much we´re missing, but we´re working to get it all done. And it´s going great!

Love you mom, and hope you have a good trip and a great week!

Love you!!!!!!

Love, Eric

Hey Dad!

I´m doing really well, and I´m really excited for this new month. We´ve got a lot of great goals and a lot of people to teach, so we´re going to hit the ground running with the whole Zone.

Zone Conference was really good; we watched a short film about a stonecutter who emigrated from England to help build the Salt Lake temple. He was in the first handcart company, and after they got to the Salt Lake Valley, he walked 22 miles from his house to Salt Lake to help work on the temple. For 20 years. Then he got kicked by a cow, had to have his leg amputated, and even then, when he could walk again with a peg leg, made the 22 mile journey every week until he passed away. And he never even saw the end result! It really made me think about how easily we give up, and how we so often let ourselves be acted upon instead of acting. This man had every right to stop working after his leg was amputated, but he didn´t use that as an excuse; he got right back up at 77 years old and started working on the temple again. I think that we really need to think of what we´re doing here on earth, and how we really don´t have time to let what other people do affect us. We´ve got to do what we know is right and what God asks us, regardless of our circumstances or what trials come upon us. He knows us perfectly, and he´ll give us the strength we need to carry on.

Everything´s going to be so different when I get back! But it´s good though, because I´ll be different, and totally ready to hit the ground running. Things are going really well here, and we´re going to keep working hard and working with the members so that the wards can stay really strong. That´s our biggest goal: to get these wards going and make it so that there´s an environment where the church can grow. It won´t be easy, but we´re starting to see how we can make it happen. I´m really excited!

This whole thing is just teaching me about what´s really important, and what we should really worry about. It´s not too tough when you get down to it, but the hard part is actually being willing to do what´s necessary to make it happen. After you get past that, it´s simple: just do it! It´s amazing how much time we waste trying to avoid just working. It´s so much easier to just do it, because then it´ll be over with and you might end up actually enjoying it! That´s something I´ve learned a lot this transfer.  It´s more my companion than anything. He´s really motivated to get stuff done, here on the mission and in life too, and it makes me realize how easily we put limits on ourselves. It´s a lot easier to just do it and to let the limits put themselves on. That´s when we see they don´t exist at all.



I love you Dad, and hope all´s well and that everyone´s feeling great. Have a great week!!!!!

Love you!!!!!!!

Love, Eric