Hi Mom!
Crazy huh? The time´s really passing, but I´m doing my best to stay focused. The secretaries called us last week asking which airport we wanted to fly into, and that was really crazy for me! That means that pretty soon you guys should be getting a letter with my itinerary- how nuts is that? I´ve still got plenty of gas though, and I´m going to keep working hard no matter what happens. We hear the transfer call tonight, so we´re not sure exactly what´s up for us, but either way I´m ready to keep working.
Haniel´s baptism was great! There were actually quite a few people there, and he was so excited that when I gave him the clothes to try on, he wanted to get baptized right then! He liked it a lot though, and it was a great feeling to see how our hard work pays off and how much that these people need us. I just talked to him on the street, offered to share our message and he accepted- that simple! It´s amazing how the Gospel can touch peoples hearts.
We´re teaching a few people who aren´t legally married- that´s a tough one here, because it´s expensive and takes a long time. Here in Paranaguá it´s not too bad, really, only 15 days, but in Curitiba it can take a whole transfer, which is tough on us. We´re really hoping that they feel the need to get married though, they´re such great people and the members of the ward like them a lot. We´ll see what happens; there´s one couple who´s part member, and it seems like the husband (who´s already a member) is really committed to coming back to church. That´ll help the whole marriage process go better.
If I do leave this area, I know that I didn´t leave it without a group to teach. It´s been a rough ride at some times here, but overall looking back on what I´ve done I feel good and that I did my best. Some of our recent converts are having troubles, but we´re working with the ward to keep them active. That seems to be the toughest part here in Brasil, keeping them coming to church after baptism. The ward really needs to work with them, and sometimes they just can´t seem to. It´s worrying me a lot, but we´re doing our part.
Mindy´s theme´s not too formidable; I´ve already taught so many youth about modesty that it´ll be a snap. Here in Brasil´s about 50,000 times worse, especially where I´m at. It seems like the guys don´t own shirts and the girls asked their baby sisters if they could borrow their clothes. No worries, I think I can handle it.
I´m glad Nick´s trip worked out and that everything´s going well. Have you heard from him? I´m going to send him an email here pretty quick, but I have to send a bunch of pictures to the mission office first- they´re evaluating the houses and here in the interior it´s a lot more complicated. Things are going great here, and I´m so excited to be able to talk to you guys again NEXT WEEKEND!!! I hope you´re doing great and aren´t working too hard. Let me know what´s up and how everyone´s doing! Love you Mom and have a great week! Love you!!!!!!!!
Love, Eric
Hey Dad!
Weird that you guys now have to write two emails, huh? But everything´s going well here, our baptism was great and this month every area in the zone baptized again! It was pretty hard work but we managed to pull it off, even if it wasn´t exactly what we were expecting. We had some troubles with following up with investigators in the zone, and that made things a little more difficult, but in the end every companionship had a baptism this transfer, which is something that´s only happened one other time in the mission- in our zone this last february! We worked really really hard this transfer and it paid off again, something that Elder Lima taught me in our time together. We hear the transfer call tonight, and I´m not sure what´s up, but I´ll be sure to let you know as soon as I can.
I´m glad Nick´s trip worked out- his was a little easier than mine though, I think. 17 hours of flight is pretty tiring. Speaking of planes, the secretaries called to see which airport I wanted to fly into, and I told them Spokane, just to go full circle. I think they should be sending you my itinerary here in a month or two. Not too soon, I hope! It´s crazy how the time flies.
I can´t believe the team´s doing so well, and that the season´s almost over! It seems like yesterday you were talking about how practices were starting. But it´s great to see the people you lead grow and progress, huh? That´s been a great privilege of mine. Some of the people I´ve lead are zone leaders now, and that´s such a cool thing to see. I feel like my companion and I have had a direct part of the progress of some of the Elders and Sisters in this mission, and that´s something that´s really special to me.
Mother´s day´s almost here! We´ll have to see if I´ll be in a new area, but either way it´ll be great. I´m ready to keep working really hard while I still have the time, and here in the area we have a lot of people to teach who have a lot of potential. I´m excited to see what´s in store for us here, but I think the zone´s going to have a lot of changes. I´ll keep you updated. Keep doing great dad, and let me know how I can help! Have a great week!!!!! Love you!!!!!!!
Love, Eric
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