Week Ninety Six

Sent: Monday, June 04, 2012 9:17 AM


Hi Mom!

This week was super stressful, but all in all one of the best weeks of my entire mission. We went to Curitiba twice this week, once for a leadership training and then on Saturday for Marlus and Silvia´s sealing! It was incredible, and it strengthened my testimony that families really can be together forever. I saw a few people from Ala 2 and Elder Lima saw some members from a ward he passed through too! It was a really great experience for both of us, even though we had to run back to Paranaguá for a zone conference and couldn´t catch the next bus out. We sat there for an hour waiting, which sucked because we were supposed to help Sister Cordon look at the houses that the missionaries are living in, but in the end it all worked out fine. 

The lady we´re teaching couldn´t come to stake conference because her son was sick, but her two daughters came and they liked it a lot. We´re going to have them all interviewed and see if they can be baptized and confirmed on saturday, because this Sunday we don´t have sacrament meeting. All of Brasil will be watching the dedication of the temple in Manaus, which will be really cool, but I hope that We can still get to baptize them this week. We´ll see what happens. This is also the last week of the transfer, meaning that the missionaries that were in the CTM when I got there are going home next week! Crazy. We´re still working really hard, even though the weather isn´t helping. It´s been raining since 5am this morning and I don´t think it´ll stop anytime soon. Let´s hope for a change, because we´ve got a lot to do this week!

I´m fine on stuff, and I´m sure Elder Lima will appreciate the package. It´s crazy to think that I´m into the last full month of my mission now! But I´m still focused, and this week we´re going to have three baptisms! It sounds like Nick´s doing well, so that´s good, and I hope he´s enjoying every second of his mission. I know I am! Thanks for everything you guys do for me and for all of the support. Let me know what I can do to help, and I´ll be sure to keep you posted! I´m attaching a few pictures of the sealing and the family that we´re preparing for baptism. Have a great week mom, and thanks again! Love you!!!!!!!! 

Love, Eric



Hey Dad!

This week was pretty nuts, but in the end it ended up being amazing. We got to go to the sealing of Marlus and Silvia, and it was so great to see them again. I got to see the bishop and a few other people from the ward too, and they even asked me to be a witness for them. I signed their sealing certificate, so I´ll be on their wall forever! It was so great to see them making it to the temple, especially considering where they were a year ago. I feel like, in part, I came to the mission when I did just so that I could help them. That sealing made my entire mission worth it.

We´re teaching a really great family too, and the mom and her two oldest daughters are progressing really well. They´ll have an interview this week, and I hope they can be baptized this weekend because next week is transfers and who knows what´ll happen! We´re running like crazy to keep the zone excited, and I´m hoping that everything turns out well. It´s hard because when I got to Paranaguá we had 4 really great months in a row and this last one was pretty weak. I want to make sure that if I do leave I leave the zone better than when I found it, so I was getting pretty stressed out these last weeks. I think it´ll be good though; we´re setting the example and that´s the best of it.

It´s so weird to think that it won´t be President Knowlton that´s going to release me! I hope I at least know him, even though I know that all stake presidents are called of God. We had stake conference yesterday and the stake president here gave a really great talk, along with two seventies that really did well. I was a little stressed because some people we thought would come didn´t, but that didn´t stop me from having a really great experience. President and Sister Cordon spoke too, and they both gave amazing talks. I´m so proud to have them as my leaders.

Things are really going great here, and we´re working hard to finish this transfer strong. Keep me posted on everything and let me know what I can do to help. Congrats on everything with baseball, and I can´t wait to see how much you guys have changed! Even though it´s still really far away. Have a great week Dad! Love you!!!!!!!!

Love, Eric