week 29: That's sick

Week 29,  5th week of 4th transfer

February 24, 2020

So this week we have some pretty terrible news. So Francielli won't be baptized. So, Sunday night, I think I talked about it last week, how we marked a baptismal date for her...she was super excited. But the next day, that night we went to follow up with her and see if she was able to read. We knocked on the door and her husband opened the door and he said "Oh no she's not here." So we said OK and left and were walking in the street to go back home and he was at the corner of the street waiting for us. So we were like, "ah, ok." So we said, "Oh hey, what's up?" and he said ,"i have to tell you guys something." And he told us that he didn't want us to pass by his house EVER again basically. That he doesn't want his wife to be baptized and we are not allowed to visit his house more. So we were like OK. So we left. The bishop is good friends with her (Francielli) so we had him message her to see what happened and it turns out that her husband had found things on the internet about the church, Anti- Mormon literature about the church and all that stuff and had shown it to her and forbidden her to be baptized into the church. So that's really sad. We were really upset about that. 

And then Wednesday we weren't even able to leave the house because my companion had a fever of 102 and was coughing up a storm so we were able to leave the house. So that was pretty sucky this week. (Fortunately, by Pday on the 24th he was doing much better. He liked the cold medicine I gave him from the supplies brought from home. Brazil doesn't really have any good cold medicine).

But we found a young man named Gabrielle. He's 21. And we started to teach him and he did what we asked and he read the Book of Mormon and he prayed and the second time we talked to him he had already received an answer that it is all true. So that was REALLY cool. It was a REALLY spiritual experience when he told us that he believes it's true. He wasn't able to come to church this sunday because the last day of a course he was doing to learn how to cut hair. So he wasn't able to come this last sunday. But this sunday he was able to come to church and then in two weeks we marked a baptismal date. So we're following up with him every day to make sure everything goes right there. But he's really awesome and really interested and already believes in the Book of Mormon. So that's really cool!

So on to things that I hate: So we had to go to the hospital on Thursday because my companion was sick and we had to sit there for like 2.5 hours waiting (thanks, socialism). So that took up a lot of our time during the day. And the hospital is not a fun place here. It's really dirty and gross. (the hospital is the only place missionaries can go to get medical treatment or medicine of any kind. It's quite a process)

But things that I like: We had lunch at a members house  and he has a punching bag and boxing gloves and he let me hit it around a bit which was good because I haven't hit anything in a while (haha...coming from a martial artist on sabbatical).

That's this week...until next…

Spiritual Thought:

2 Nephi 25: 23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our
children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be
reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved,
after all we can do.

It is only through Christ that we are saved. We can find hope in this
when times are hard. I like the part of this verse that says "we labor
diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren,
to believe in Christ." We can find so much peace and joy in the
gospel, and we should always share this with others.

-- 
Elder Olson