It's a Little Chile Down Here...But Kinda Warm in Brazil: Zone Class and Brazilian Breakfast

Zone Class and Breakfast

Dear Family!!!

Man, I can't believe how fast that time is flying by here! It's so weird to think that I already have been on the mission for 10 months. So crazy! It's good to hear that you guys are still on the same rhythm with work, exercise, callings, etc., and that you guys are busy and happy. I would be jealous that the youth get to see the general YW president and Steve Young (actually I am jealous about Steve Young), but my mission mom (Sister Tanner) was already general YW president, so I'm not that jealous.

This past week for us has been really good (but really every week is really good on the mission). Elder Watt and I gave the training for our zone this week. We had a traditional brazillian breakfast with bread, ham and cheese with everyone in the zone to kick it off. For the training, however, we basically turned it into a type of council. Those of us that were at the meeting with Elder Evans shared what we learned with the rest of the zone and we all discussed these topics and how we can incorporate these into our areas and missions. It was a really good council and I think that it helped a lot.

In our area we have been working really hard. Augusto is doing awesome. Even though he doesn't live in our area, we are still teaching him everything and prepping him to be baptized in the ward he lives in. This week we finally got some of our other investigators to church. Their names are Patrícia and Da Paz and thanks to a nice little family crisis (which I won't talk about because it's kind of personal) they finally came to church with us. Even though the microphone broke during sacrament meeting, they loved it a lot and I know that they were truly edified there. Unfortunately they both are in a situation where they are living with their "husbands" but aren't really married. We are planning to talk with the husbands this week, so we'll see how they take the idea of marriage -- we are hopeful. Also this week, we had a mini-miracle. Yesterday we finally caught Marcelo at home. He told us that we was about to leave but something told him that he should stay and then we showed up. He came to us telling us about how he's kind of fallen off the track a little bit, but how he has a really strong desire to get back on track and to be a changed man, so that he can marry his wife legally and that he can be baptized. We talked about the reality of the atonement and how infinite it is and how we all can change our lives through faith and repentance. He had told us that he went back to drinking, but he decided that he wanted to stop now. So, with his consent, we took the beer that he had in his fridge and disposed of it all, so that he could get away from the temptation to drink again. It was such an uplifting experience and we have decided that we are gonna visit him for 10-15 minutes daily so that we can continue to help strengthen him.

That was pretty much all the highlights of the week. Yes, it is Carnival (Mardi Gras) right now. No, nothing crazy has happened. We haven't even changed proselyting hours or anything because it's pretty calm where we're at. But if anything crazy happens, I'll be sure not to tell you guys until I get home ;). I love you all, and I hope you all have a great week! Until next Monday!

Love,

Elder Schwartz