My (not) white shirt after moving dirt
An acerola tree
My new companion, Elder Brandão, de Rio Grande do Sul
!There's a few of these trees around town, and it's nice to pick a few acerolas for a snack during the day.
Me in front of the "pé de acerola"
I think Heavenly Father heard how many times I said “I miss working like this with my Dad at home”
to E. Gomez whenever we passed men working on a home improvement or construction
project alongside the road, because E. Guzman and I (I was with him for a day
while I waited for E. Brandao to get here. I was in the MTC with E. Guzman and
it was awesome to work with him for a day!) had the chance to do some good
manual labor. We were going to teach a family, and when we got there, they were
taking a break from moving a truckload of dirt from the front to the back of
their house. There was still a big pile left, and although they tried to convince
us to keep our white shirts clean, we got the shovel and wheelbarrow and
finished the job in about 30 minutes. It had been so long since I last did yard
work and it was awesome! It was 100% worth getting a little dirty. Just about
everyone the rest of the day asked us what had happened to make us so dirty
haha. After we finished carrying the dirt, we taught them a lesson from Alma 7,
invited them to church, and marked to visit them a few days later.
That was a good experience at that house. When we returned,
we had a bad one. The dad was totally drunk, sleeping on top of a pile of wood
outside the house. One of the 3 kids tried to wake him up. He entered a state
of stupid madness that I think only a drug could cause, picked up a large
brick, and hobbled/stumbled/ran around and through the tiny house to find the
kid who had awakened him. When he threw the brick, the kid had already
disappeared around the corner but it almost nailed E. Brandao in the shin.
Whoa.
I immediately looked at E. Brandao and said “I’m so grateful for my parents!”—never, ever
have I had to fear a drunken parent. Mom and Dad, thank you so much for raising
me with kindness and love always. Here I constantly realize how incredibly
blessed I am to have you as parents. The gospel blesses families!
We quickly left and certainly won’t return. It was a tragic
and eye-opening little experience.
Every week has its ups and downs, and this week had a lot
more ups than downs! My new companion, E. Brandao is awesome. He has a lot of
experience as a zone leader and with working efficiently. I know I’ll learn a
lot from him in his last transfer.
We’re teaching a mom and son, Maria Helena and Joel, that
are progressing really well. After a few invitations they finally read the Book
of Mormon and loved it. This Sunday they came to church, like it a lot, and are
excited for a branch activity on Wednesday. We’re preparing them to be baptized
on the 21st!
6 of the 12 missionaries of Patos were transferred this
week, and 6 new ones arrived. They got here with energy and faith, and we’re going
to have a lot of success here with them! E. Brandao and I are going to work
with specific goals and effective plans and vai dar certo demais.
IT HAS BEEN SO HOT HERE!!!! Usually the cities in Minas
Gerais are cooler than those in Goias, but this week we about melted and fried.
I’m using sunscreen every day, but I still think I come home with a red face,
arms, and neck haha. Brazil is great mas quente pra caramba!
I hope that 2017 is going well in the great USA! It’s
starting out as a good year here.
Confiemos em Cristo!
Elder Anderson
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