Well everyone this week was great as usual! It's
the mission so of course it went great! It was a little more low key. Elder
Permann has a lot of time here and it is time for this guy to get going. He is
awesome and I loved every single day with him. I hope I can be a good companion
for my future comps. We went to Atibaia this week for our zone/district meeting
so we could say goodbye to three elders in our zone who are going home this
transfer. It was pretty good and I will miss them. They were great examples and
taught me a lot of things. After three bus rides we got back to Amparo and got
our day planned out over a 2 liter bottle of coke. The coke here is super good.
The coke in the states doesn't even compare!
We had decided that Tuesday would be the best day
to head to the really far neighborhood (1& 1/2 hrs by foot) and teach a
couple promising contacts there. And it all worked out! We went there and
taught a guy named Gustavo. He is super great, understood everything and it was
a great lesson altogether. We later found out the next investigator, Letícia,
is married to an ancient less active member! And better yet he works with
Gustavo! It was seriously a great strand of miracles happening! I couldn't
believe my ears! Letícia was still pretty stuck on the Catholic Church and the
whole saint Mary deal so we will what happens with her. We just invited her to
come to church and hopefully she will feel the truthfulness of the church. She is
stuck on the big marvelous worldly things that these other churches offer. But
thank heavens her husband has shown that he will be pushing to get them in
church, along with Gustavo! It all worked out perfectly!
The next day, Permann and I planned to head out to
Serra Negra. It is a neighboring city that is technically part of our area. We
had received a reference to go there and give a DVD. So we made a day activity
out of it. Serra Negra is a small town of like 30 thousand but is super
touristy, and super beautiful. It reminded me of California minus a beach. So
Permann and I killed some curiosity and visited a couple stores. He bought a
berronte. Some trumpet-ish thing made out of a bulls horn like on lord of the
rings. Ha-ha it was pretty funny to see him lug it around and have people look
at him funny. He didn't care; he was like a child at Christmas. We finally
mugged up the courage to walk for an hour up some huge hills in Serra Negra to
get to the reference's house. And it was a walk! Ha-ha we stopped in some
little shack to buy a cold coke and then get back on the way to find that the
person wasn't home. So we left the mother lode with them at the door! Book of
Mormon, 2 different DVDs and the restoration pamphlet with our numbers and a
message from us. It was a great day. We made it back home with sunburned faces
and knocked on a few potential investigators to find that they really didn't
want the message to close off the night. It was a great day.
The next day, we passed by the center of the city
and this hippy/gypsy (we called her a "jippy") was selling some
handmade bracelets from snake skin leather and whatever else. Permann had
already made friends with her in previous transfers and stopped to buy
something this time. We talked for a long time. She was pretty interesting, she
had spent a lot of time with the Indians in the Amazon and such. She had long
ratty dreads and the sides of her head were shaved. It was kind of cool to see,
wouldn't want my wife to have hair like that by any means though. But she was
awesome and we were able to teach her about the restoration and invited her to
church. It was fun. She asked a lot about things in America too. Like whether
we were fans of Obama or "the opposition" ha-ha. I wanted to say we
were part of the rebellion. Ha-ha it was a fun experience.
After this we went to visit one of our mothers,
Wilsy, who has been passing through some tough times lately. She gave us the
whole smorgasbord of food, including my favorite, Vaca Preta. It’s basically a
Coca Cola float but here they call it a black cow. Silly Brasilians. We spent
some great time with her. After we talked with her, we planned on going back
out to the far away neighborhood again. We couldn't get hold of our
investigators and I was not super excited to walk that far to find an empty
house. But we went, and while we were walking this guy stopped us. He talked
with us really quick and was so happy to see us! He almost hugged us! He ran
inside his house and commanded us to enter! Ha-ha we did with pleasure! He said
he was a member a long time ago in Bragança Paulista and he loved the Elders
there! He made juice for us and we talked until his wife and kids got home and
he was super happy! We gave him the address to the church, (he thought Amparo didn’t
have one) and got his info so we could come back and teach his wife! I thought
about how important it was that we found him. He said his schedule is super
busy, but because we decided to go to the far away neighborhood, he was able to
find us, and at a time where he was home! It was super cool, and reminded me
that we must always be engaged in a good cause and that the Lord works through
small and simple means! I am so grateful for that experience! This guy's name
is Celso. He will be awesome in the branch here and I can't wait to see what is
in store with them. And no we did not find the planned investigators home! Ha-ha.
Saturday we had lunch with our other mom, Laide.
She made feijoada which is a big pot of beans with all the meat you need for a Texas
BBQ in it. She made so much and wanted it gone! So we ate lunch, left and
worked, and came back for dinner. It was good time spent with her, and she
greatly appreciates it. She guilt trips us at times for leaving her house too
soon.
Sunday finally came. I wasn't too happy that
morning and I didn't quite know for sure why. I just kept quiet and didn't say
anything until Sacrament. We left to go get an investigator and go with her to
church. When we got to her door, she said her boyfriend that lived with her
doesn't like us and that she was accepting classes from the Jehovah's Witnesses
too and didn’t want to be confused. My two biggest dislikes here: No one is
married, but they all live with their boyfriends, and stinking Jehovoh's
Witnesses. We have a saying her in Amparo, "If you don't follow up on your
investigator, the Jehovah's Witnesses will." Yeah, nuff said. Just a bunch
of trouble makers for us. Anyway, we got back to the church in time for
sacrament meeting. The patriarch spoke in sacrament and it was so powerful.
Patriarchs have a super special relationship with the spirit. It really got to
me when he spoke. After the meeting block, Permann and I helped to put the
sacrament away with the Patriarch. While he was doing it, I just stopped and
looked at him. My heart was burning and he looked up at me and he had tears in
his eyes as he looked into mine. I was tearing up a little too, and all he
could say was "God bless you Elder". It was such a cool experience. I
felt so much love from the Lord then. It is an honor to have the opportunity to
serve these people and to be able to take care of the sacred sacrament after
the meetings. I love this church! I love this place!
We found out
about transfers at about five that day, and I knew Permann would be going, I
thought maybe I would be also because I was starting to feel comfortable here. Ha-ha
But luckily I get to stay. It is a little nerve-wracking each transfer. This
time will give me a lot of opportunities to grow, we have a lot of activities
and things going on this week that we planned and my new comp is going to have
to rely on the junior to get it all right. I hope it all goes well and that we
can serve our Savior in a manner acceptable to Him.
Well we went and visited Laide to tell her about
the changes, and she wasn't too happy. She started crying but cheered up a
little later. After that we went to visit a less active member who I adore. He
served a mission a while back but came home early and now he was passing some
hard times with his wife. He has a strong spirit to him though. He just talked
to us about his mission and about how we have the greatest time of our lives
right now. That even though he came home early, he would not give up his
memories of his mission for a million dollars. I loved hearing that, This is
the best time of my life for sure. I can't dream of being in a better place
than Amparo, Brasil right now.
We may not
be baptizing, but I have seen the true church of our Savior Jesus Christ work
miracles and change lives. This place has flipped a 180 and I know that I have
done what I can to help better this place. This next transfer will be great; I
am so excited for the wonderful experiences ahead. I love every second here!
This is the work of the Lord! This is His Church. We are His covenant people
and we should be the happiest because we have nothing but happiness in store
for us! I love my mission, I love these people, I love the scriptures, I love
my Redeemer and I know that he lives and He loves us perfectly! I love you all!
Have a wonderful week! I know I will!
Elder Paynter
P.S. Davies, Dean, fam, and friends, thanks so much
for the letters and for the support! The letters are some of the greatest possessions
I have! I love you all!
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