Hey yall!!
Here
in Pelotas is basically the Texas of Brazil so yes, I will now be using
yall at all possible moments. But anyway, I hope that yall are doing
well, I hope that yall had a great week and a great Thanksgiving! I hope
yall ate more than 10 pounds of food, and I hope that the food was
amazing. Im doing great here. The transfer ended this week and we found
out that Elder Newman and I will be staying for at least 6 more weeks
here in Obelisco, and we found out that we will have two more Elders to
help us in this area. Elder Inácio and a completely new missionary
(finally someone who is newer than I am!) Whelp, here we go yall!
Monday (November 19th, 2018)
Today
was the last P-Day of the transfer. And the last P-Day ever of Elder
Alvis our Zone Leader. So we got together as a zone and make churrasco,
played basketball and soccer, and had some good old fun. I beat
Brazilians at a game of penalties so I was feeling pretty good. :) Crazy
to think that eventually I will have my last P-Day. Then we had a
family home evening with some awesome recent converts and investigators
named Fabiane, Paulo, Estelito, and Gleci. Paulo (an investigator)
shared a message about faith which was awesome and for desert, I made
American cookies that actually turned out pretty great. They were a
little burned, but they dont know the difference so its fine.
Tuesday (November 20th, 2018)
Today
was a great day. We visited tons of people and were really effective.
But we had a really strange experience. We were teaching two people,
Carla and her mom, Sandra. As we were talking, Sandra starts to talk
about how sometimes they dont have light or water which is quite common
but pretty sad. Then, I asked Sandra if she would like more blessings in
her life. She said no. I couldnt believe it. What do you mean no? So I
said "You would not like a better life for you and your family?" then
she told no, everything is fine. I think that that is one of the hardest
parts about being a missionary. Knowing that they could have so many
more blessings, knowing the happiness that is waiting for them, and they
wont do what they need to to be eternally happy.
Wednesday (November 21st, 2018)
We
had an awesome thing happen today. We did a contato de fogo, or a fire
contact which means that you mark a baptismal date with the person, in
the street, while you are contacting them. To be honest, she contacted
us. She asked if we had anything that we could give her so we gave her a
pamphlet about The Gospel of Jesus Christ. She then told us she had
never been baptised, so we asked her if she would prepare to be baptised in one month and she accepted. Wow. God is good. I believe in
miracles.
Thursday (November 24th, 2018)
HAPPY
THANKSGIVING!!! It was a great day today. We had a good day of work,
then met with Areal at night to have our own little Thanksgiving with
them. We bought two Zé Rochas, ice cream, and brownies. Then, as tradition
dictates, we said all the things we were grateful for (I am truly
grateful for yall). It was actually pretty funny because I made the
brownie batter, before I realized that we didnt have a pan to put it in.
So, we just ended up eating the batter. I hope that it was so good for
all of you and that, if not any other day, today you were grateful for
your family and all of the blessings that you have because I am so
grateful for mine. I love you all!
Friday (November 25th, 2018)
Today
we had the interviews for 2 girls who are the sisters of Derick who was
baptised a few weeks ago. The interviews went great, and they are definitely ready to be baptised. But the best part was that I was
talking to Richard (Hisharje) and he told me his story. He is 14 years
old, has always had faith in God, and has gone from church to church
trying to find out which one was true. Sound like anyone you know? It
was amazing to be able to tell him the story of Joseph Smith and tell
him that someone exactly like him got the answer to his exact same
question. He told me that he would definitely pray and ask God if it was
true. He really is a special kid.
Saturday (November 26th, 2018)
We
had another baptism!!! It was awesome. Unfortunately, only one of the
sisters of Derick was baptised (Keroline) because the other went to a
birthday party, (I almost said, you would rather have cake than eternal
salvation?!?! but I didnt) But it was really amazing for two reasons. 1.
We had 5 friends of Keroline that went to her baptism and now all of
them want to be baptised. and 2. Keroline is the most mature 8 year old
that I have ever met in my life. She says things that surprise me all
the time. She is so amazing and really will be a great example to her
family. It was a great baptism that went smoothly. What a blessing.
Sunday (November 27th, 2018)
Today
we found out all of the things that are happening this transfer.
Unfortunately, Elder Chamorro will leave us for Porto Alegre but the
good news is that we have a ton of new areas that will be opened in our
zone. Pelotas is ready to explode with the church. It will be amazing to
see the growth that we have in these 6 weeks.
Random Thoughts:
- My Bishop really did ask what the address of the chapel was. I love our Bishop.
- We saw the entrails of a cat after it got run over by a car.
- Christmas is in 1 month!!!
- Elder Newman is lactose intolerant so he did not partake of the ice cream.
- We accidentally had to pay for someone elses wedding so we are now broke. But in other news, we get more money to survive on Thursday so dont worry :)
- Lemons do not exist in this country. Sprite is made with only limes.
- A girl stole my pen this week.
- We met a guy who got shot in the back this week. (Welcome to the neighborhood of Dunas.)
I
am so grateful for you all. So grateful for your prayers and emails and
everything that you do. Continue to improve and try to be more like
Christ every day. Love yall!
Elder Allen
