Hello People,
Again pretty much this week we just worked and walked in the sun.
We found two guys that loved the message of The Restoration and are like hardcore studying it and things. One of them we have a date to be baptized on the 22nd because he smokes so we have to help him stop that first. The other wants to learn more about when the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday. Luckily my companion likes to Bible bash so he has a ton of scriptures for that (we don't Bible bash* because I don't like it, but it's great to know all the scriptures to explain things). (However I started to like Bible bashing when you actually know how to do it so we Bible bash sometimes for companion study).
We also have two kids that go to church every Sunday that live close and want to be baptized, their dad just wants to talk to the Bishop first so we will go there this week to talk to them and teach their family. Also there was a girl we found this week in the street that went to church and knows lots of people there and liked it.
We also have like 5 people that want to get baptized but can't because they are living with their boyfriend and breaking the law of chastity and need to get married first. That's actually a big problem here because everyone is poor and just doesn't get married on paper. You will find like people that have been together 40 years but still aren't married, but we have to get them married on paper first so they aren't breaking the law of chastity and then we can baptize them. However the government here is super slow with that kind of thing.
The ward here is great and funny and the leadership here is good too. We made a ward mission plan and everyone seemed to love it so hopefully lots of people start to work with the missionaries.
For a funny thing this week we taught a guy that believes in Greek gods, Norse gods, Egyptian gods, and Christ. It was a bit strange because he tried to explain all his thinking and using proof from history so that was fun; but honestly it didn't make sense to me so maybe I need to open up my mind more.
One guy who lives in our house is a new guy from Bolivia so he is teaching me Spanish and I am teaching him English. Spanish is way easier now that I know Portuguese so that's fun. I basically can always understand everything, but talking is the hard part. However, I also now have friends from Peru who will take me to Machu Picchu and someone whose house I can visit if I ever visit Mozambique. So watch out because I will be a world tourist when I get back.
Love,
Elder Holcomb
[*for anyone not familiar with the term "Bible bash" it usually means one person says something can't be right and the other person finds a scripture to prove it right. Or it can be each finding scriptures to prove their own point. It is discouraged because it usually leads to an argument or disagreement and contention trying to prove self instead of leading to thoughtful discussion and understanding and respect, and thus excludes the Spirit from the conversation. The Spirit does the teaching so it is vital the Spirit can be present in a discussion, lesson, or conversation. That's why
Isaac says he doesn't like Bible bashing. Like he said, it is good to be aware of potential questions or rhetoric that could be brought up in a lesson and to then have an answer from the scriptures.
Also, for the literal readers, Isaac is not literally thinking he needs to open his mind to believing in Greek, Norse, and Egyptian Mythology- he is speaking in a more abstract sense of just trying to understand how this person is connecting those things.
Here's a few links about "The Restoration":
1 minute explanation: https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/restoration
5 minute: https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/joseph-smith-and-the-restoration
20 minute: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2008-06-01-the-restoration?lang=eng
For those who want a bit extra: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/04/the-restoration-of-all-things?lang=eng
For those who think they've heard all this before ;-) : https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/are-you-sleeping-through-the-restoration?lang=eng
With a Brazilian twist: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/the-sacred-place-of-restoration?lang=eng]
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