Hello Family Dearest,
Thanks so much for the e-mail! Means a Bunch!
Everyone's in Utah? Ah how cool is that! Sure do wish I could be there with you guys to send Sarah off on her mission. But I'll see her when she gets back, hahaha :)
This Week was good! I went on splits with my district leader... That was nerve racking! Before we started he said. "alright so I'm gunna be looking at how you teach, how you make contacts so just act normal as if I was your actual companion". HA Yeah I was so nervous and I forgot how to speak Portuguese that whole day. But at the end of the day I really learned a lot. I learned a bunch about how I could use my time more wisely when I organize and plan the day. I learned that from the actual contact or talking to the person I can identify so much more than I initially thought. I learned that I need to be more direct in saying what I know, like I need to say with more frequency that I know that this church is true and that it is the only true church on the face of the earth. The rest of the week I was able to apply what I learned on splits with my LD with my own companion and the week went great. I'm excited for this next week because we will have an entire week to apply what I learned, wahaha!
All yesterday and today it's been pouring rain, like thick, soaked to the skin wet, haha, But I liked it :) I'm gunna have to wrap all my little booklets and planner with plastic bags if this rain continues into tomorrow. During this week I've had many opportunities to talk to Jehovah Witnesses, I've been invited to many meetings in their kingdoms ( it's what they call their chapels) and have been given a lot of Jehovah material. But on the flip side I've been able to invite and talk to JWs about our religion, what we believe and what is really true. I'm so thankful that God restored the true church of God and that I have the opportunity to represent his church.
No matter how much a missionary practices and studies defensive material about Joseph Smith the church , prophets, I believe that God can shut the mouths of missionaries or in my case, cause that missionaries forget the foreign language that they've been studying for the past 9 months haha. I've had the chance to meet a lot of closed hearted people recently. And there have been so many things that I've wanted to say but nothing comes out. And I just feel so sad for the person.
My companion and I are doing great! We really get along great :) He thinks I'm funny, haha, I don't know why.... I tend to do stuff to entertain myself, like dance, sing, or other random things that don't have descriptions, haha. It's a way to de-stress, haha. One thing that I have been able to do in my areas is make friends with the members, adults and the kids. Having the right balance between entertainment and spirituality and respect... and I've been here for three months already, So everyone knows me right... This past Sunday the bishop asked me to say the opening prayer.. He announced my name and everyone started chuckling, hahaha.
I love my area and my companion, the members are great and are helping us a ton! We have received a ton of references for this next week! :D
Drive Safe!
ELDER Ralph
Maceio Brazil Mission Assignment
Serving in God's Army
