This last week seemed like it was just unusually long. So much happened and it seems like last monday was a long long time ago. Last week we had transfers but since my comp and I stayed in the area we didn´t go to the transfer meeting. It was hard to say goodbye to some of the elders from the group that left right now, many of them have been my best friends and companions on the mission and now it means that my group is the oldest. Weird stuff.
We are just working hard here in Salto. Because of his crazy work schedule, Roberto and Andreia weren´t able to go to the government office last week to get the marriage process started. Now we are praying and encouraging like crazy because if they don´t go this week then I won´t be here for when they get baptized! So prayers are definitely welcomed!
President Farnes is just the best. At transfer meeting he introduced to us an inspired idea that he had and felt really really strongly about. Our mission is turning 80 years old this month, it is the oldest mission in Brasil, and he felt really strongly that we needed to show and give even more as a vote of thanks and dedication to Heavenly Father. So this month we are to knock on 80 doors... daily! Hahaha when I heard that I was so surprised. We don´t really knock doors a lot here, we do often when appointments fall through and here in Brasil the people are so open that knocking doors results in many baptisms, but like this and in this much quantity, haha it is pretty different to what we are used to. And man is it tiring! Haha so this last week we just worked our tails off! It was honestly pretty humbling, we are seeing that it is pretty hard. We are rejected a lot more, but we also get to have spiritual experiences a lot more as well. We were able to find a woman for example who was talking with us normally until she told us that she had grown up going to the LDS Church, that her mother claimed it was her church even though she had never been baptized. Then she told us that her mother was in the UTI (it´s the emergency unit, I forgot the name in english) for a month and she was really worried about her. She also told us about how she used to have The Book of Mormon and she had lost it when she moved. We gave her a copy and she started to cry and insisted that we enter and talk with her and her son. We offered a prayer and she told us how she had been talking to her son recently about the Mormon religion and how much she missed it as a child with her mother.
Miracles.
So Elder Carney is going to be able to finish this month working hard and being very tired! But we are just having faith and seeing miracles happen as we are obedient.
We also had an incredible conference on Friday in São Paulo with Elder L Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy and Elder Aidukaitis, who is a member of the Brasil Area Presidency. It was so so edifying. I am so glad I was able to be there, we felt so well instructed form the Spirit, and it was incredible to here and see just how much they have devoted their lives to serving our Savior. I took a lot of notes and it was one of the highlights of my mission.
Paulo Gabriel was baptized on Saturday and Confirmed on Sunday. He doesn´t have a lot of support from his mom, she doesnpt mind him going to church, but she doesn´t really believe in him very much. She is a single mom who works the night shift in a neighboring city and is really stressed. He comes from a pretty rough envirnment, the members are helping a lot.
We are working hard and this week we so badly want to help someone be baptized, unfortunately we don´t know who! We have several people that can be baptized and we are praying and working and planning hard to help these people follow the Savior and start on this path to eternal life.
Well, have a great week! Love you all and open your mouths!
Elder Carney
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