This was a good week! I am happy to hear that it was the same for everyone there at home. It appears that a highlight of this last week was Carter's soccer game. It looks like when I get home I have someone still to play soccer with.
This week it rained, and rained, and rained! It was awesome. Mom, to answer your question, it is hot! I sweat a ton. But I can't complain too much because I've been in an air conditioned building for most of the summer and if I did go outside the sun was setting, It cools down a little. Granted, these last 2 weeks where we left the office at 3pm, I didn't enjoy the same blessing. It feels a lot like Florida. Basically, if you hope for cool weather, you hope for a complete cloud cover the entire day because if the sun breaks through for even 5 minutes, you feel like you can drink the air. I was prepared for this weather though... another blessing of being in Florida for those years.
But back to the rainstorm.... Yesterday, was probably the craziest storm that we've ever had. It rained so much that a river was formed down the middle of our area, about 10-12 feet wide and about a foot deep, flowing down the hill. Well, of course, our next appointment was on the other side of the river and we didn't know how to cross it without taking off our shoes and socks and wading through it. Deciding that wasn't the best decision for us, the member who was with us, Aza, said, "I'll carry you across!" So picture this. It is pouring rain, people standing all around, kids playing in the rain, collecting water and digging trenches to redirect water from their houses, and then you see in the middle of the river a 25 year old man with Elder Dorff on his back crossing the river, followed by Elder Godfrey! (Mom has to make a comment here. From other missionaries letters from Praia, its been mentioned that when it rains really hard and this river forms it is sewage-laced so that may explain the decision they made.) It was crazy and we were both so mad that we had left our cameras at home. I must take a picture of Aza.
The people here in Praia are different than they were in Mosteiros when it comes to us, their house and in the rain. In Mosteiros, people would say, "Elder, it's raining. You have mud on your feet and you're all wet. I just cleaned my house. If you come in, your going to mess everything up. I'll talk to you another day." Here in Praia, "Elder, are you crazy?! It's raining! Get out of the rain into my house, this very instant! Don't worry about your shoes! If you stay out there another minute, your going to get sick!" This is a good thing because we seem to be teaching more and people are willing to let us stay for a long time (to make sure we don't walk in the rain) but it just gives them more time to feel the Spirit.
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| So, look who's crossing the street in front of our house... |
So, I have great news with a new family that we are teaching. Their names are Z and M. Z was baptized a long time ago when he was like 12 years old, but since then, he has remained inactive in the Church. I remember that we were kind of without much luck one day and we came up the hill and he was just standing outside of his house. As a mission, we are working on having 10 street contacts everyday, and because he was just standing there in the road, we talked to him. He told us pretty quickly that he was already baptized and after that he invited us into his house. We went in talked to him and he told us that he was looking to return to full activity in the Church. Since he left the Church, he has created a family, including his wife M (nonmember) and their son who is 2 years old. Well, he introduced us to her and within a week and an half, we have taught them 5 times, they have gone to church twice, they have accepted getting married on the date that we suggested, they have started the wedding paper process without our help, and she has accepted a baptism date for the 25th of October! They are planning on getting married the day before. We love this family! They are both actively reading the Book of Mormon and have received and recognized their answers as to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We are very grateful for them, and really for all our investigators. I feel like we have a lot of people with some good potential. They just need to read the Book of Mormon and search for their answer.
Thank you for all your love and prayers. I am thinking of you a bunch and I love you a lot. I hope that you all stay happy and healthy! Talk to you next week!
Elder Brent Dorff
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