Hello everyone!! Sounds like all of you are doing well! I'm
excited to hear about your lives. Happy Birthday, Addison!! You are getting so
old! Don't grow up too fast, please!
Being Zone Leader is going well. I really enjoy getting to
know all the missionaries in our zone better, and I'm trying to establish some
sort of relationship with all the Elders. Which is hard, but also fun. We have
a great zone, so there isn't too much correcting of behavior to be done. I pray to love all the people in our zone
everyday, and I definitely do. I appreciate all of their sacrifices to be here
on missions, so I already love that about them. And as I get to know each of
them a little better, that only grows.
I'm pretty sure this is our last week as Zone Leaders though, cause normally it
only lasts 3 weeks. I don't know what I will do if I don't have any sort of
calling for the last week...
This week we welcomed another new district, who I already
love a lot! They all came with a strong desire to learn, both the language and
the gospel, and are really trying their best every day. I'm
excited to see them progress over the next two weeks!
It's crazy to think that I have been here just about a
month! Time flies in here! But at the same time it feels like I have been here
forever, so I don't know how to feel haha.
This week when Elder Lowe was kinda sick, he was pretty
tired. So I did most of the planning for our lessons that day. Normally he
takes the lead in lessons because he is a little more confident in his
Portuguese than me (even though mine is decent, I just need more confidence in
it), but he asked me to take the lead on this one. So with "Fabio",
our teacher acting as an investigator, I took the lead and we had a super
awesome lesson. Elder Lowe still contributed a lot, but I was kinda leading the
discussion and stuff. Fabio was a kinda difficult investigator who didn't
really believe in God or anything. His mom was baptized, and he went to the baptism,
and felt like the church was organized well and all, and everyone was nice, but
nothing more. And by the end of that lesson (I believe our 4th with him) we
committed him to baptism. Now, it's obviously a fake person, but the Spirit was
real, and it was a cool experience. Still lots to teach him, but cool
nonetheless.
This week after our movie night on Sunday (we watched
Testaments, which is super good of course) we were helping pick up chairs
afterward and talked to some native Brazilians. Their Portuguese was super hard
to understand because they talk quietly and fast and with a heavy accent, but
it was cool. Two of them have the same lunch time as us, so we are trying to
sit with them at lunch and learn from them. We will see how that goes, but it
was cool. The worker here who was directing us in stacking the chairs moved
here form Brazil like 2 months ago, and we talked to him too.
I started reading Jesus the Christ this week, which I wish I
had started so much sooner! I am excited to learn more about Christ, and I'm
just sad that I didn't already read it. So I read some of it everyday, and I love what
I have read so far.
This week we also started to teach other missionaries in our
district acting as investigators. It's good for us to practice more Portuguese
in that way, but they also want us to learn what it is like to be an
investigator, and try to see more from their perspective. Try to understand
what their needs are, and how they can be helped by the gospel. It's a really
neat idea, and I like it a lot. It should be a good experience.
Anyway, I am doing well. I'm healthy, learning lots, and
enjoying my time. No major problems yet. All is well. I hope all of you
continue to do so well too! I love every one of you!! Tchau!!
p.s. I just realized like yesterday that I had been spelling
tchau wrong. It's still pronounced the same as ciao, but I feel like an idiot
because that is how I would end letters to people haha oh well
Elder Baldridge with other missionaries in his district
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