So this week was what we call "show de bala" (it was quite dandy).
So monday, after p-day ended, we went and visited Leticia with the Sisters because it was the Sisters who actually found her and they were being transferred and wanted to say goodbye. We played guitar and sang hymns with her, and it was super awesome but sad because the sisters and Leticia had a really strong relationship. Afterwards, Elder Lemos (the missionary that was with me while I was waiting for my companion) was going to train a new missionary, so he was gonna head off to Santa Maria to get him, so he needed to go back to his apartment and pack for the trip. While he was packing, I ordered a pizza to celebrate a transfer well done. We ate amazing Brazilian pizza and reflected on the transfer and life. It was cool.
Tuesday, we woke up at 5am to drop the sisters off at the Rodoviária (Bus Station), and then we continued on with our day until my companion arrived. Around 5pm, Elder Mamani, my new companion from Peru, arrived. It was sweet. He's 27 and from Peru. His parents aren't members of the church, but his brothers are, but he's the only active one in his family. He was baptized at 15, but at 16, he went inactive. When he was 23, he started to go to church again, and then decided to serve a mission. It's kind of cool. He's a cool guy who is a hard worker and is really excited about missionary work, so it's awesome to be his companion.
Tell the Elder's in Ashburn that they Rock Socks!!!
We went to Eliane's house, a woman who is still trying to stop smoking. My companion is super excited and Eliane really likes him, so she got super pumped up about stopping smoking. We made no smoking signs and pictures off Jesus to fill her house, and we took a cigarette box and wrote the names of all her children on it, and it's really helping her to stop smoking. When we were teaching, she got up in the middle of the lesson and made a declaration to the rest of the family that there would be no more smoking in the house ever again, and if anyone wanted to smoke, they had to leave the house. It was awesome because she started telling everyone that this was extremely important to her so that she could follow the Lord and be baptized and that she wanted to arrive at the day of her baptism clean and worthy to be baptized. It was really cool to see the change that she had from just a desire to stop smoking to determination to stop smoking. It was so cool to see how the Spirit works in people to make these changes.
Last night, we had a meeting with the ward mission leader, who's name is Peterson. He's a captain in the military, and he lives in a special, guarded military community. So every time that we enter, we have to show our identity. Well, we didn't have our identities, so well called Peterson and he said that he would meet us in the front and they would let us in. So as we arrived and were waiting for Peterson, we started talking to the soldiers. There was a guy there who wasn't a soldier but he was just hanging out with the guards. We talked to him and he was pretty cool, but then Peterson arrived and we headed over to his house. After the meeting, we were walking back to our house, and as we left the military post, that guy was still there hanging out with the soldiers. We left the community and started heading home, and then we heard footsteps running behind us, and then suddenly this guy that was hanging out with the soldiers arrived. He asked where we were heading and asked if he could go talk with us. We started walking and talking, and he was a really cool guy. He gave us his address to pass by his house and talk more with him. We kept talking, and I don't remember what I asked him, but then he told us that he wasn't happy sometimes. I asked him why and he said that there are lot of problems in his family and that only 1 out of every 5 days he's happy. Then he asked if we could pray for him. I said of course we could, but then I told him that it was much more important if he prayed for himself because he has a Heavenly Father that wants to talk to him. He asked me how he could pray and we started teaching him how to pray. We arrived at our apartment and he asked if we could say a prayer with him before he left and we said that we could but I told him that he would have to do it. He was a little hesitant so I told him that I would say it and that he would have to repeat what I say. He agreed and then he started to hug us, and put his arms on our shoulders to pray. So we just went with it and started praying, huddled in the middle of the road at night. The prayer was super spiritual and I could feel the spirit really strong testifying to him that he was loved by his Heavenly Father. We left him with some pamphlets and directions to pray and then he left. It was a cool experience to really feel the Spirit and help a son of God who really needed it.
I really know that this Church is true! God loves each and every one of us, and he has a specific plan for each of us individually. Pray and talk to Him every time that you have the chance.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
Elder Hintze
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