Monday, March 10, 2014

Spinning Blades of Death

March 10, 2014

This week was the leftovers from carnaval. Carnaval I think just destroyed every one's excitement because there was just no way to work sometimes. Then, the motivation takes a hit too when you can finally spread your missionary wings again. I felt like my confidence was lowered a bit because it had been like a week since we did contacts. But we'll get the feel back this week.

Something funny that happened this week... Learning experience.  It was like 10:40 PM and I was setting up our monster fan that we got from a member so I could go to sleep(no way to sleep without a fan. I've tried). Anyways... This fan is huge and turns super fast and doesn't have a guard. Also, I think it's meant to have 4 legs but only has 3. I was setting up the fan. I turned it on and accidentally knocked it over. Me, being the impulsive idiot I am, tried to grab this beast, forgetting it didn't have a guard. The spinning blades of death literally destroyed my finger. I tried not to yell because my companion was sleeping. It was the tip of my pointer finger and it was bleeding pretty bad. I rushed to the sink to wash it and slapped a band aid on it with some neosporin and went to bed(after setting up the fan again.) When we woke up in the morning I told Ferreira what had happened and he just laughed. We went to the hall to see the carnage and there were splats of blood on the wall and on the ground. Needless to say my pointer finger wasn't used this week but he's doing better. No need for stitches. Moral of the story: If you don't go to bed before 10:30, the Lord will not protect you from your fan.

So.... WE BAPTIZED AGAIN. Her name is Nair and is 15 years old. I think half of our baptisms in this area have been 15. We inherited her from the Elders who closed the area. They marked her for the day after her 15th birthday which was 2 weeks ago. She couldn't be baptized these past 2 weeks because she went to youth conference.  She's cool. It took forever to find her in her house but she never stopped wanting to be baptized. She's friends with all the youth and I think it helps that her boyfriend is a member. She has a sister too who is 12. She l looks like she's 25. It's funny. But she wants to be baptized. She just doesn't want to have to keep going to church. Completely normal but we can work through it.

On Sunday my companion and I both spoke. It was kind of a last minute thing but it went well. I talked abut the regular "Preach the gospel because its good for you and for other people too" type deal. With a hint of Christlike charity. It was supposed to be 7 minutes but I think I went overboard like 5 minutes. I lose track of time while I'm up there. Next time I'll look at my watch haha.  The Bishop liked it. He said the people were into it. We confirmed Neuma too. She wanted me to do the confirmation. I remember at the beginning of my mission when I was afraid to confirm people in front of the congregation. Now it's a piece of cake. My Portuguese is pretty dang good. The Sisters ask who they're talking too when they talk to my companion on the phone. And that's after a good minute or so.

Well that's about it. This next week will be full of door knocking because our teaching group is empty so pray that we can find some good people to teach and to BAPTIZE.  I'm truly grateful to be here serving the Lord. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. We love the people and the people love us. Now I know what charity truly is. It's loving everyone in spite of everything. We get to know Christ more when we develop his attributes. That is the key to becoming perfect too. We don't see results until we do something to improve. We can't hope to be like him without self-sacrifice. It's something crucial that we must develop to enjoy His love and His blessings more fully. Hope y'all have a great week. I pray for everyone with your needs every day, so I hope the Lord is just raining down blessings on y'alls end!


Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll

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