This week flew.
We finally feel like we got started, but also had to finish up with some "administrative" work if that makes sense. One day we headed to Loulé, my previous área. I got to do a division with Elder Fogg, Elder Jan´s new companion. I got to know him well. He´s a "baby" in the mission, he just finished his training. He is passing some challenges in the mission, but we talked for a long while in the division and it ran well. I got to walk the streets of Quarteira again, it was kinda strange walking around in my old area.
We also headed to Tavira, a city darn close to Spain to do another division. I passed the day in Faro with Elder Taggart, a cool guy. He´s from California.
We were doing the normal, talking with people in the street, etc, and this one guy with a "california" sweatshirt. Elder Taggart only said "hey man I´m from that state" and this guy stopped and said "aw no way". From there we started talking with him, and he is a really cool guy. He´s brazilian, called Daniel. We met up with him yesterday in the chapel, taught him the restoration, and he soaked it up. He says that he had already gone to various churches and said he always had to "filter" what they were saying because sometimes he didn´t think it was all true. He liked the news we told him about a modern profet with authority. We invited him to be baptized (he was baptized in the past once already) but this time with authority and he said yes, but wanted to give a good inspection and study to the Book of Mormon and come to church. So yeah, it was a great lesson. It was very satisfying teaching the Restoration again, it had been a week or too since the last time I taught it anew. Its such a simple and powerful message.
We afterwards stayed in the chapel and taught Stefan (mentioned in last weeks email). The lesson was almost the opposite of the lesson of Daniel. Stefan just couldnt wrap his head around priesthood authority right... we used a chalkboard, a video, analogies, scriptures, all the tools.. I wont go into detail. He still really enjoys visiting with us and likes to visit the church, so maybe he will just be more of a long term process.
But, before Stefan showed up at the chapel, a member walked in for a meeting and said "hey elders, theres a woman out there who wants to talk with you guys." So we went out there and met Satu, an african woman who has already investigated the church. We started talking for just a bit and Stefan showed up... so actually Elder Kampff headed to one side of the room to teach Stefan while I taught Satu. It was strange, and probably not something advisable, but hey, we had to think fast.
Funny enough, I spoke with Satu on the phone a few months ago. I dont remember why or when, but I think she called us wanting to know when she could meet with us, but the trouble was that she had moved out of our area (which was at this time Quarteira) to Faro. So we passed her number to the Elders who were here in Faro at the time so they could meet up with her, but nuthin happened. So she showed up on our porch basically!
She was nearly baptized a few months back, but lost contact with the Elders due to the move and well, poor contact management by the Elders who used to be here. Luckily enough though, we are in contact with her again, and me for the second time!
The lesson I had with her was quick. I wanted to discover her needs rapidly and then plan a baptismal date for her. We (well, I techinically) marked her for day 26 of this month. So, second to our mission rules, if she comes to church these 2 upcoming sundays she´ll be baptized. How cool.
I finished up with the lesson and jumped into the lesson with Elder Kampff and Stefan... and yeah I already talked about that haha.
But yeah that was all yesterday, it was pretty cool.
Oh, and forgot one more, near the end of Sacrament meeting, a man showed up on his bike to the church and basically said "Im addicted to smoking and drinking. I want to leave it all behind me." We grabbed the branch president, a member who smoke and drank for 30 years and was baptized a year ago, and we went into a room and started conversing with him.
I personally think he was a tad tipsy still, but we chatted with him about Christ and a plan that we would make together so he could leave his addictions, and then be baptized, thus leaving everything bad in the past. He accepted a challenge to lower the rate of smoking, and we´ll be chatting with him throught these next few weeks to see how it all plays out.
And yeah, it was a kinda crazy week, especially yesterday. Elder Kampff was a bit sick this week, so we lost some time so he could rest. But with the time we had we found some success, or rather, the success found us!
Times up!
The church is true!
Elder Ward
I looked out the window and what did I see? A woman grilling fish and squid.
I didnt have time to make it rhyme, chill. (portuguese like seafood just a bit)
A less active member gave me a recipe for chocolate salami, and I tried it myself, it turned out pretty good! We´ve already used it as bribery with some members.... heheheh
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