Wk 30 - Faz tempo não é?

Elder Smoot &

Elder Braga

Elder Smoot & Almeida

Elder Smoot & Braga

Elder Smoot, Iverson & Almeida

Area: Campo Maior

Companion: Elder Braga

Well i tried to take a few more pics with some members and people we have been teaching... so hopefully you wont complain this time.. haha just kiddin.

So as normal, we started on Tuesday with a District meeting. After district meeting we were in a little bit of a mess. The other Elders had to walk to that house way far away (i walked there last week and that was the pic on the bike with Elder Iverson), but our lunch was pretty far in the other direction. So we ended up calling some members to borrow their bikes. It was so fun! We only got two bikes, so like that pic with Elder Iverson, we had one sit on the back and the other ride. It was a blast. It turned into a little race/water fight. Anyway, me and Elder Braga had a long walk too so the bikes helped a ton. That night we had a family night with the other elders, i sent a pic, and it was a lesson and then they started the other side of heaven and we left because it was time to go home.

Wednesday turned out to be a better day then i thought. We went to our first two visits and nobody was home. So we went to a less actives and started teaching his aunt as well. We also met some ancient investigators that never got baptised... hopefully we can help them... they actually knew Elder Washburn haha. But that was cool to see them.... but they didnt come to church on sunday!! So we will have to talk to them about that.

Thursday was a basic day... Lots of walking, we found a new that was pretty far away, but he seemed to have a strong heart cause he almost started crying. His name is Deglan i think. But it went well.. other than that... nothing too exciting.

Friday we had a bunch of visits fall through right at the start, which kills the day so fast.. so we went to Nataniel´s (less active) house and they were doing some reflooring there. So we helped for about 45min. I really enjoyed it actually... it was sweet. Then we visited Josué, the ancient investigator, and he had lots of questions and we answered them and he said he would go to church... but didnt. But it was still a good lesson and good day.

Saturday the other elders had a baptism and it was Elder Iverson doing it. The problem is that the water was coming out super slow so there was only half of the baptismal font filled... so they did it on their knees haha. But it worked out well. And Eliane and Liliane went to watch the baptism, which was good. Also our Zone Leaders came from Teresina with some stuff and i got more letters! one from Tal and Austin and some others and i finally got the one from Taylor Austin that he sent back in December. (And your right he does look like he´s gettin ripped, but dont worry, i am stayin strong too;)... or at least im tryin) Then after we grabbed a member who had a cousin close by and went to talk to her. This girls mom walked in and went on about the Catholic church haha i love teaching catholics, its funny. My comp started reading the commandments and stuff and she was really wishy washy about what she was talking about. It was just fun and we left on a good note with them.

Sunday we had some investigators in church! most important was Eliane, her friend Liliane. It was good to have them there. The coolest one was that we had an entire less active family come to church. It was that house that is pretty far away and only their daughter was going every sunday. This time the entire family came!! It made me so happy. The dad that even had drinking problems came in a white shirt and tie. It was truly a miracle. That night i did a split with Elder Almeida again and we went to visit Eliane. We finally set up a Baptismal date with her!! She is set to be baptized on this Saturday, if everything goes accordingly. So i am way excited for her.

Well it was a good week... I started reading Our Heritage and that book is really good. It talks about the beginning of the church and all of the sacrifices and miracles that happened and i really like it.

*are you using your insect repellent? How bout the sunscreen? How are all your medical supplies? I use sunscreen and bugspray every day :) and the meds are good. I just needed more pepto that you already sent.

*clothing and socks doing good? my clothes are awesome. I havent even lost a button on anything and my shirts are still white. Havent had any holes in my socks either....

*Tayton was wondering if he could play your guitar? For sure man! All of my stuff is up for grabs for the next year and a half... there is no reason to just leave it sitting there. Use it!

Thats cool you contacted Elder Iversons mom! We were both pretty pumped about that. He is a stud. We spend quite a bit of time together and have done splits quite a bit... its pretty awesome.

I liked how you talked about not knowing what to teach and just following the spirit. A lot of the times we knock on our investigators door, my comp looks at me and says, ´you know what we´re teaching today?´ ´no´ lets go find out... it really is like this sometimes and we really just need to trust in the spirit. Its a great experience.

You sent a picture of you holding a rifle out in a field. What was the story behind this? Last week they got permission to go with a member to go shoot this bb gun... the Brasilians dont get opportunities to shoot guns like we do so it was way fun for them.

What kind of a gun was it? A pellet gun.. nothing big.

We saw pictures of you and Elder Iverson on a Bike. Do you guys work together often? We work quite a bit together. Obviously he isnt my comp, but every once in a while we will go together because our district leader, Elder Almeida, wants to see how things are going in our area or with my comp.

Well love you all, hope i answered all your questions.. Make it an awesome week,

Remember, if your not living life on the edge, your taking up too much room!! (:

Elder Smoot