Companion: Elder Rais Area: São Luis
Once again, another great week in the mission. some updates on some events around here. we are still without water :) we had it for half of one day, but then it went away again. we are looking for a new house but it is very difficult here. we finally found one, but it is an extra 15 minutes from our area so our walk would be about 45+ to get there. also we wouldnt be able to move in for a month. we are still praying for a miracle. also, i have started cooking up a storm in our tiny little kitchen :) every morning i have been cooking eggs and hamburger meat and making different juices. i will start buying better stuff for dinner today so i can eat something other than ramen.
Monday-for this P-day we got permission to head into the more cityish area and go to a shopping mall! after a couple bus rides and some time we made it. it felt sooo weird to be inside a place like that after not seeing anything close to it for almost 3 months. we just looked around and we ate lunch at... SUBWAY!!! it was sooooo delicious and i miss the subway at BYU oh so much. it was a little taste of america once again. also i am learning to like alot more things on my sandwiches. after returning home, we got ready and headed out to teach for the rest of the night. we contacted someone who was a referral and the lesson was really cool! it was a woman named fatima and a man named fransisco. before leaving, she shared with us that before we came she was praying for someone to help her find the right path to go in life.
tuesday-we had another distrct meeting which went well. later, while we were teaching, we stopped by the house of tássia. when we got there, she said we couldnt teach her because she could only talk for a couple minutes. she said that her and the guy she was living with got in a huge fight and are separating. she said he did some really bad things and said some bad things and she wants to separate. she told us that she wants to follow christ in her life and start her life over. it is kind of a bittersweet moment because its sad that they are separating, but i know she is gaining such a greater and more loving family through the church than with the guy she was living with. We also challenged a kid named daniel to baptism if he recieves and answer about the book of mormon and he said yes!
wednesday-we had 8 people accept baptismal dates today! it was sooo awesome! we taught about the restoration and the book of mornon. like daniel we promised that if they read and pray, they will recieve an answer that it is true. they all accepted this challenge and said they would be baptized on the condition that they recieve an answer. one of the kids who accepted is named Augusto. later we were walking through the streets and he was with all his friends and he was talking to them about our church and how he will get baptized if he recieves an answer. its so cool! we got down some addresses. We also bumped into Tássia in the street andshe told us she still wants to be baptized. it was nice :)
thursday-we got to have interviews with the president of our mission!!! predisent Dias is super cool and it was so much fun talking with him again. while he was interviewing me, he looked through my planner and said that he has already interviewed 70% of the mission and me and elder rais were the first ones to have our planners organized correctly. he also said that following the simple steps that seem silly sometimes allows miracles to happen. i have no doubt about this because i am experiencing miracles every day! we also did alot, alot, and alot of walking. first, we had to walk an hour to lunch, then an hour to our interviews, and then 2 hours to our area :) then we could start teaching. we got two more baptismal dates similar to the others. Also, we taught Edilberto about the importance of reading and praying about the book of mormon because he has been strugglig a little with this. he said he would and also we were able to advance his baptismal date so its sooner! one of the coolest things was that both edilberto and tássia both told us that they had already stopped drinking coffee because while they were at church they heard the bishop mention that in his talk. i can tell both these people really want baptism and are willing to make the sacrifices for it. Tássia also shared with us that she can feel something so strong whenever we teach her and when we went to church. we explained to her about the spirit and she said that she has never felt something like it in any other church And, we bumped into a kid named Rielson who we taught the night before and he told us that he prayed about the book of mormon and knows that it is true :) AND edilberto cooked pizza for us when we taught him :) pretty much it was a great day!
Friday-we taught two more teenage boys and got two more baptismal dates marked! its great because all these teenage boys we have been teaching know each other. im hoping they will all grow together and help each other.
saturday-today we followed up on alot of our challenges to read and pray about the book of mormon. we had 4 people share their experience and they all know the book of mormon is true! things are really starting to get exciting now with our work :) also, we started our fast after lunch which is a little more difficult because we sweat alot and walk alot so its kinda nice to have food, but i was so excited to fast because i had so much to fast for.
sunday-we went to church today and while walking, i randomly stopped sweating and im guessing its because my body ran out of water - it was kinda wierd. we had 5 investigators come to church today. it was really good, but i'm hoping for more. At night, more people we met with said that they had recienved answers that the book of mormon is true as well. it makes me so happy :) also, while teaching someone at night the man offered us shrimp. my companion is allergic so he didnt take any, and i have never had any before so i was a little nervous, but i am here to try new things. it was weird seeing its eyes looking right at me and i ripped its head off... i ate two and thanked them very much and then the woman left and came back with a plate of 15! she told me they were better with lemon so she prepared more for me! they were pretty good, but not my favorite. Dad, you should be proud of me. we can eat chrimp together when i get home.
monday-i woke up early today to start cleaning so we could finish all our studying and start p-day on time. im super excited for today because we got permission to play soccer with the young men in the ward! it will be soo fun and i know i will get destroyed by all the brazileiros.
now time to answer your questions! my companion does speak english. in fact, his english is better than my portuguese... we are sleeping in beds because its the cooler season right now and rains super hard all the time. i could buy a hammock and sleep inside though because all the walls have special hooks for hammocks in them. we get mail every month or so i think. i think for transfers when the president comes he brings it. and my arm wasnt too burned, it was half tanned :) its kinda just turned into a tan now. i wear the sunscrean on really hot days. and thanks for the package!! i got it at my interviews! the snacks are oh so good and the hangman thing is really fun :) i have already given out two of the bracelets to some kids and they love them. that was a good idea. i wore the tie to church and the little metal things dad gave me are way fun. where did he get those? i also received one mission ties letter, but i dont remember when it was sent. i got one from G+G Lambert. the pictures of the baby were soooo cute! im so glad that everything went well and that i have a nephew! its wierd to think that he will be anne´s age when i get home...
i love all of you soooo much and thank you for the support and prayers! até mais!
oh, and the picture loader was being stupid so i only got two loaded up....
com amor,
Elder Lambert
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