It’s Only My First Transfer And… I’ve already had a gun pulled on me!

It’s Only My First Transfer And…

I’ve already had a gun pulled on me!

I love Brazil! Haha.

On Tuesday, I saw two guys sitting by the road (this was completely normal, all people do here is sit by the road…) and went to go talk with them. I had no thought or feeling that I shouldn’t. I introduced ourselves “somes missionaries da Igejo de Jesus Cristo…” One guy got up and left, and the other, entirely drunk, said in equally drunken Portuguese: “Since you can’t speak Portuguese, I won’t either! Eu achoeQUELIVORBREXARISSEOUCABONES…” Oh man, he was crazy. Anyway, he got mad at me since I didn’t laugh at his jokes (I had no idea what he was saying in the first place, and on top of that he was probably not funny at all), and he walked behind the counter in his bar (I didn’t see they were sitting next to a bar when I walked up to them) and pulled out a two-foot long knife. He pointed it at us, said some stuff and put it back. Then, probably since I wasn’t intimidated by the knife (throughout all this I just stood there and looked at him blankly), he opened a drawer and pulled out a gun. He held it up, pretended to shoot it twice in the air, and put it back. From what I understood and what Elder Meireles told me, he had told us about a time when he got mad at some guy and killed him with that knife and then told us another story about seeing a robbery occur and the robber shooting the gun twice in the air. On top of that, he had been trying to scare “the American”. I wasn’t ever really scared, only worried that if he pointed the gun at me I would then be really scared. Anyway, he said “Preach to me!” and we said we would talk to him another time and left. We definitely won’t return.

Do I feel safe in this country? A week ago I would have said yes. Now, my answer is an honest and justified “sometimes.”

Overall this week was good. Wednesday to Friday was tough. No one was home and few people would listen to us. Yet, I persevered. We are promised in Ether 12:6 that we “receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” After a few trying days, we were able to find tons of people Saturday and Sunday and teach some great lessons. What a blessing! The gospel is true.

I started teaching on Aulade Ingles (English Class) this week! Any member and investigator is invited and when we contact people on the street, we invite them as well. It’s only once a week for an hour and a half or so, but it’s a great way to get people together at the church and teach some basics of English. It’s nice being able to speak, for a short time, the one language I’m fluent in.

This week I’ve studied a lot on how to improve myself as a missionary, and I’ve learned a lot! I love serving the Lord full-time. I want to do the best job I can, for these two years aren’t  mine! We can always improve and become more like Christ. This life, mission, and gospel are awesome. As are all of you back home! Have a great week, tenho muito saudade para voces!

Elder Anderson

A birthday party at a part-member family's house. Sorry for the blur!