Scrimmage

8/12/2009

Well i jsut got done hiking the Serra in Itabiana for the second time and it was 

absolutely yet again marvelous.  I really just love the out doors.
 
How´s everyone at home tho?  Guess the summer might be coming to a close there.
  Here in Brasil i have my own worries, like fighting the ever growing prices of 

acerola, which personally i think is quite a crisis.  Or the fact that me and my 

comp have now made it 4 consecutive weeks in a row that we´ve locked ourselves 

out of our house.  You choose.
  (pause for doce de leite)
  But anyways, this week i was thinking an realized maybe i havn´t said enough 

of waits been going on week to week here lately.  And that maybe its just become 

all to routine to me that maybe i´ve kinda forgotten to tell you whats up.  So 

to really cool stories this week:
  The first started with our baptism Friday of a young man we´ve been teaching 

throughout this transfer.  Having already pasted by the church that day we 

knew the font was full and ready to go.  So after picking up our (now) recent 

convert we arrived at the chapel to start the service.  Unfortunately to our 

surprise the first thin we saw was our ward mission leader running from bathroom 

to font with barrels of water.....thats never a good sign.  Then upon asking he 

told us how he had just finished draining the water a few minutes ago because 

it had ´´Smelled Funny´´.....hmmmm awesome.  Luckly mormon standard time is 

truly standard and thus excets here in brasil as well.  Plus you can add a 

little more time to that because, well, i mean we´re in brasil.
  So its now 7:00 (the marked baptism time) and we´re pretty much starting 

from scratch on filling a font that generally takes about to hours of so to 

fill by its own faucet.  Running back and forth, i grab a bucket a start 

preforming the mesmo action of grabbing water from the bathroom and putting 

it in the font.  Raceing, struggling, using both male and female bathroom, 

by some miracle we were able to fill the font within 30 minutes and as we 

finished our second counsler of the bispado arrived.  It truely was a blessing.
  To top it off, naturally a gaem of soccer had starting in the parking lot 

enquanto we were trying/ accomplishing all this.  Of course the mioria of the 

kids were what the call here ´´street kids´´ from around the neighbor hood. 

So as our second counselor entered he rounded all 20 or so of them up and sat 

them down to assistir the baptism.  How cool is that?
  Still tho i think my favorite experience this week would go to a man named 

Validek who lives sozinho with 3...maybe 4 children.  We encountered him on 

the street last week and have been following up with him this week.  When we 

found him he was smoking some 15 cigarettes a day, and the first thing we were 

naturally inspiried to teach was the P.S.  (pause for spiritual effect)  Upon 

visiting him yesterday he told us he only is smoking two a day and plans to be 

down to 0 by our next visit.  Once again its hard to say who joy was great. 

The love in his eyes shone brighter than i can describe or ever hope too. 

After then going over the frist message again and giving him a BOM he told 

us his favorite part of the lesson was the boy named Joesph Smith and that 

no matter what, If he found that the book of mormon was true, he would join 

this church even if both me and my comp left.  Infact, that we could come 

back in a few years and he would still be there just as strong as anyone 

else.  
  Its sad that sometimes here in Brasil you become immune to such response 

because you get lied to so much, but the truth in his voice couldn´t have 

been purer.  The importance of being able to share this gospel with a strong 

testimony was made more important to me that ever.
  I can tell you with out shadows of doubts that the words of both the Bible 

and BOM are true and the keys to eternal and everlasting salvation.  As Néfi 

i´m am glad and ever thankful to have been born in a family with parents 

firm, true and steadfast in the igreja.  Never doubt what you have, and 

always look back on what ppl have give you and how they have been there for you.
  I love you guys
 
Alma 7:2-3/ DC 109:15-14,
Elder Neuberger