Marituba 11

(Picture of Isaac getting his vaccine update)

Hello!!!!!

This week was good.  On a quick note this transfer I am still in Marituba but I will have a new companion, Elder Dornelles.  This week was a normal working week.  We did get to baptize Arlison. He was very excited and it was very fun.  It was an adventure because when we were trying to fill up the font the water broke and wouldn't fill up just like my first baptism. However, this time the Bishop told us to use the emergency fire hose.  So we got to drag the firehouse through out the church building and then fill up the font.  It was very fun; however, cleaning the giant wet hose up afterwards was not.  I got pictures on my companion's camera because mine is still out of battery so when I get those I will send them!  

This week we started teaching a lady that didn't really believe in any church because she went to a lot, but didn't think any of them were the same church that Christ had left on the earth.  So we started teaching her and now she wants to get baptized, so that's awesome!!!  

We had Jaycie show up to church again so that was fun. She was very sad that Elder Geremias will be leaving, but I think she likes the church because of the church, not just him.  This week we can teach her at her house because people have finally realized she isn't just talking to us because she wants to get with one of us.  

Also, we had one guy that showed up to church just because he wanted to ask questions about it and I told him the best way to learn is to go to church, and he did, and he liked it and he wants us to teach him now so we will teach him this week too.  

Also this week I have been helping the youth in the ward with physics homework so I guess I still remember physics. I am surprised.  

I will send more pictures when my companion sends them so I will send them next week.  

My spiritual thought for the weeks would be 2 Nephi 31  about the steps of the gospel and baptism.  It was what we shared with Arlison before he was baptized and he likes that chapter a lot.  When we are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost it is a very special experience. However, we need to always remember it, and then continue to do what we know is right, and really endure until the end, and always use the atonement in our life to improve and change because that's really what using the atonement is. It's changing how you live your life.

Love,

Elder Holcomb
[also sent this in another email:  oh also yes the trucker strike has been a problem because no one has fuel for there cars and the buses have been cut to 50 percent so that's a big thing  some airplanes have stopped too and the missionaries going home this transfer were worried their flight would be cancelled and they wouldn't be able to go home so that was funny but I think they are all fine]

Marituba 10

Hello people,

This week nothing too different happened but we did work hard.  We are still teaching Alison who is planning on being baptized this week.  He is pretty excited so that is good.  We started teaching someone named Jaycie who is cool. She and her kids have gone to church every week and really like everybody. The only problem is that she like separated from her husband last week because he likes to drink a lot and so everyone in her family thinks now she is trying to get with one of us missionaries. So we can't go to her house to teach her or everyone will be like "hmmmmm" because she is living at her mom's house now.  So we can only talk to her when she goes to church and the last two weeks she has been there so that's good.  We also are teaching someone named Loyana and she is sweet. She goes to church every Sunday too and likes everything, the only problem is she doesn't want to seriously pray and ask to see if the church is true because she is scared about the changes she will have to make in her life if the answer is yes.  

A funny thing is, another person we were teaching this week, when we were talking to her she was like, "it's best to meet on Thursdays because I work a lot on Tuesdays and Wednesdays" and my companion was like, "oh, what do you do for work?" and she was like, "oh, I am a prostitute." and we were like, "oh....."  but we are still teaching her so we will see how that goes and if she wants to make a couple changes in her life.  

The other funny thing is one day at lunch we were eating and there was a little iguana outside so we all went outside to look at it but then it got scared and ran away and into the house.  So then we spent thirty minutes chasing a very fast little iguana around the house.  We eventually did succeed and I have a picture of me holding it so that was fun.  

My spiritual thought would be we need to make sure that we are always putting the Lord's will first not ours and following His plan for us because I would say the hardest problem we have here is that someone will believe in the first couple of lessons we give but as soon as we talk about something that would mean they would need to change their life they don't want to believe in it anymore so we always need to remember to be humble ourselves too and look for what the Lord wants, not what we want.

LOVE,

Elder Holcomb

Also random side thing is that I heard that one chandelier song in the street the other day and like in the U.S. I had a hard time understanding what she was saying like even that she was saying chandelier but after 6 months of only hearing Portuguese I definitely knew exactly what she was saying.  So I guess I could probably understand "Smells Like Teen Spirit" now too.

[in answer to my question, "what is your favorite scripture right now?":   haha I don't know if I have a favorite scripture right now. I LIKE all of them.  However, a good one I like is in 3 Nephi, I think 13, when Christ is teaching the apostles and at the end basically tells them to give up everything because God can provide it.  there is an excellent one when he sets apart the apostles in the new testament but I am not sure exactly where.]

Marituba 9

Isaac didn't write a letter for the blog this week (5/14) because we talked on Mother's Day. It was great for us to get to have a conversation instead of emails. Isaac sounded like he is doing great which is good because some days the missionary life is hard. I think it will take too long to try to remember everything we talked about so I won't write it, but it boosted us all to be able to connect with hearing and seeing each other. :-)

Marituba 8

U (sent May 7)
Dear people,

This week nothing really has happened out of the ordinary.  We worked and helped people.  Monday we had a service project and we basically weeded someone's lawn and helped mix and pour cement.  It was good; we worked hard and after they fed us lunch so it was worth it.  

A funny thing that happened this week was that when we were going to a house of one of the people we were teaching, her kid that maybe is like 4 was playing soccer in the street, and when we passed by was super excited to see us, and then after we passed by we heard him tell everybody "that guy is from North Korea" and everyone was like "really wow!!" We weren't sure if he was talking about me or my companion because both of us don't look anything like a North Korean.  Also lots of people like to ask me if they have memes in the U.S. and that question always makes me laugh and I say, "yes of course they have memes in the U.S."  

On a more spiritual note we started teaching a friend of one of the church members and he is really cool and wants to be baptized and we are going to work with him and help him to be baptized the last Saturday of the month so that should be fun.  He is really cool and excited. I guess my spiritual thought of the week would be sometimes no matter how much faith we have and how much we pray for something sometimes we wont get what we were asking for. Sometimes things end up different and everyone has their free agency to choose and we can't change that.

Love,

Elder Holcomb

P.S. if you don't get the subject figure it out