We've had a really good, hardworking week in our
area, which has been fun, though it didn't come without it's hiccups, as
evidenced in our weekend where the only dancing done was the shuffle of
our feet through the dirt trying to find people at home.
One
cool thing from this week was our progress we had with our
investigator, Baka. On Tuesday, we went to teach him, and we talked to
him about the importance of keeping commandments, and the blessings that
come with them. We taught about a few commandments in specific, and at
the end, as a final note, we talked with him about his baptismal date.
Since he hadn't come to church the week before, we didn't feel that he
would be ready for his July 2nd baptismal date, so we told him we felt
it would be best if we moved it forward to July 9th, so he would have
more time to prepare, and we could cover the remaining material to make
sure he was all ready to go. He told us, "Elders, I don't want to get
baptized on the 9th, that's too far away for me. I'm committed to being
baptized on the 2nd". Not surprisingly, we were kinda taken aback by
that, and used it as an opportunity to explain to him the level of
preparedness necessary for him to make a covenant like baptism with God,
to which he accepted a date for the 9th. However, for us, he suddenly
gained potential we had never seen in him before, with an actual desire
to be baptized. It was really cool. Throughout the week, as we focused
on him, we saw his willingness to leave past sins behind (while still
working on a few), and his knowledge in the gospel increase. While we
aren't 100% positive he'll be ready for this week, we feel that he has a
lot of potential and the possibility of his baptism is likely. We've
just gotta get him to show up for a baptismal interview :P hahaha.
About
halfway through the week we got hit with unexpected craziness. One
morning while in the shower, Elder Neville told me he'd just talked on
the phone with the Assistants, and that we had to get a ticket home for a
missionary waiting for his visa serving in Praia. Not only did that
throw our entire morning outta place, when we went to go pick up the
missionary, no replacement in the form of a mini missionary had come
yet, meaning his companion, Elder McMullin, would have to stay with us
while a new companion for him was sorted out. What we thought would take
a couple of hours to sort out ended up taking more than 2 days, meaning
Elder McMullin got to hang out with us for that time. It was a lot of
fun for me, mostly because Elder McMullin and I are bros, but also
because we arranged for us to go on a division in his area, Bela Vista,
where I served for a transfer, while Elder Neville worked with Kenny in
our area. It was fun for me to get to walk around and see the changes
that have happened in 6 months there, one of which is a burger and
shwarma place right by the Bela Vista Elders' house. Of course, that
isn't a luxury I could've had while I was there, they just had to
wait to put it in after I left. However, after a few plans fell
through, Elder McMullin ended up getting a mini missionary to serve with
him, and he got back to focusing on his area. He told us while he was
with us, "I feel like a kid when your dad takes you to work in the
office, and you just sit there and do nothing while your dad works
away". It was good fun :)
One final highlight
from the week was church on Sunday, when we had 3 new investigators come
to church for the first time. Last week, I talked about how we started
to teach a woman named Dilma, and while we taught her this week, she
expressed to us that, with her current work schedule, it would be
difficult for her to come to church with us at 8:30am on Sundays.
However, her (sorta) niece, expressed real interest in coming, and after
we knocked on their door at 8am and woke them up, Dilma's niece, Telma,
showed up at church with her cousins, Dilma's daughters, all on their
own! They came and sat down on the bench behind me at church, and our
2nd counselor in the bishopric, Nunu, who was sitting up front, leaned
to the side and gave me a sorta funny smile. It was boss, because after
sacrament meeting, we got our two Young Women's leaders involved, and
they whisked them off to Young Women's with them. It was a boss tender
mercy for sure.
It seems to me that Praia is
getting hotter every day. We have two fans running almost every night,
with a window open, and we're still sweating. Some houses are worse to
teach in than others, because some, you sit down, and realize that for
the next 20-45 minutes, you're gunna be strugglin'. Not that the
temperature here is really all that hotter than home, it's just so
constant and thick. Summertime has got us sweatin'.
One
last highlight: for Canada Day on Friday, Sister Mathews made banana
bread for our monthly housing and finance meeting. Not your most
exciting way to celebrate Canada Day, but I'll take free banana bread
any day. I also wore my Maple Leaf socks to the meeting, which everybody
but President were fans of. I just think President was jealous because
of how cool Canada is, and my socks :)
Love y'all!
Elder Massey
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