Well this week, was quite a week. Amparo is a great place
with some unique people and the members are quite unique also. They are great
though. Because the branch is so small we have lots of responsibilities and the
stake is really throwing some pressure on us to work on reactivating the young
men. They don’t have a Young Mens leader or mutual or such so we are in charge
of doing branch wide activities each week. The Sunday school teacher teaches a
long and boring lesson then we need to do a game that is short and calm enough
for old people to play. So if anyone has any ideas we need all we can get!!! Ha-ha
it has been stressful but I am grateful for the opportunities that we have been
blessed with, now it is time to capitalize on them and change this place.
We found a couple families this week who we are teaching and
we have a lot of hope in them. They will be some great members. We are just
having a lot of trouble with finding times other than Sunday to meet with
one of them so they can progress faster. We also have two young girls that are
about 12 years old that really want to be baptized but the parents are quite
against it so we’ll see how much shmoozing we can do with that. It has been a
great week with a lot of learning experiences.
One of the families that we are teaching has a father named
Natal which means Christmas in English, ha-ha but it really was like Christmas
for us when we contacted him because he is so friendly and him and his
wife, Michelle, have been prepared by the Lord for sure! He pointed out to
us before we even taught him anything that he and his wife don’t drink or smoke
and have no addictions so they are just waiting to be baptized and have been
going to a bunch of different evangelical churches before they decide which one
is right. They already know that the Catholics are off the board.... ha-ha
thank heavens! Anyways we are super excited for them and have tons of hope in
our investigators! The other family, Leandro and Angelica, accepted baptism and
will be baptized on March 16, which is Elder Permann’s birthday! So it will be a
great day indeed!
We have been super blessed with so many great opportunities
and members and support here. Each member feeds us lunch twice a month. One of
the members and his wife spend the rest of the day after lunch doing visits
with us in houses of less active members, and they are do well at getting them
back to church. They are older and just hilarious. Some of my favorite people
here in Amparo. We have two "mothers" here that make us stop by and
spend time with them twice a week and fill us with food and Coca-Cola before we
get out the door! Yes, I am gaining tons of weight, and this time I don’t think
it is muscle.... ha-ha. Culture night this week was Italian food, and Elder Permann and I cooked spaghetti with our Italian mustaches that we drew on our faces.
Ha-ha things are going great, this week was a major setup
week for what we have coming and I can’t wait to share the experiences with you.
There are many great promises in store for the people of Amparo. Oh and other
news, yes there are 58 new missions, 7 new in Brasil, and our tiny mission is
getting divided in July! It is super nerve wracking and I really don’t want to
be split up from my buddies but I know the Lord does everything for a reason
and I will serve him any place any time and in any way.
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ so much. It has brought so
much peace, happiness and tranquility to my life. I know that He loves each and
every one of us so much. He has prepared the way for our happiness and has blessed
the world. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I love you all so much. Have a
wonderful week! Love,
Elder Paynter
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