Hey Mom,
How I´m doing? I
am getting really comfortable in this area: with the members of the ward, with
this companion, with the responsibilities I have as a junior companion that no
one expects too much of yet. I am
dreading the change that is sure to come, the ´´stretching´´ that you talked
about. I know it is imminent. In just a few weeks are transfers. I may be with a new companion, maybe have
more responsibilities as a missionary, there will be more experiences where I will
see how my weaknesses in the language or personal preparation make the
missionary work tough. So, as always, I am looking forward and feeling anxious
for what is coming. Right now, in the moment, I am doing okay. This week I had
some interesting experiences!
Our investigators this week: We found a rapaze
who is 15 yrs old. Actually his mom
found us because we are American. Sometimes on P Days we play basketball on the
court the church has. This kid’s name is Ricardo and he really likes basketball. He trains a lot, but his mom wants him to
have more time playing so today (P Day) we are gonna play basketball for an
hour or two at the church with him. Basketball was a great way to break the ice.
He´s warming up to us. He and Elder
Kozlowski talk a lot about sports - it’s only a matter of time until the
baptism! Ricardo has never really liked organized religion because he
sees the problems and dishonesty in so many churches here. We taught him about
the restoration and he likes the church. He came to church yesterday but it
made me really sad. The young men’s
program here is terrible at integration. I was up playing piano and Elder K was
with an investigator whose son has mental problems so he needed to help them
out during sacrament meeting. We prepped with the young men beforehand to make
friends and be welcoming but Ricardo sat alone during sacrament meeting. It was
really sad. We have a meeting with the Pres. of the young men to talk about
integration in the ward. It’s no surprise that the Young Women and Relief Society
are great at integration though!
We have 2 investigators we are
helping overcome smoking addictions, Clark and Marcondes. Marcondes has some
mental problems too he struggles with. I don’t know if he has a mental capacity
to really overcome this addiction, he smokes upwards of 40 cigarettes a day.
But we are praying and teaching them with hope.
6 Month Anniversary: This week (Thursday) marked my 6 months here
in Brazil. As I was coming upon it, it felt like time was starting to go
faster. Now looking back, 6 months has felt
like FOREVER and I have got a lot more time to go... I’m trying to stay energetic
and positive but it’s always a struggle. We did celebrate that I had survived 6
months. At the end of the day we bought
Sundaes and French fries. It was good, practically American! In this transfer
Elder K will make 1 year. To celebrate
that anniversary we are planning on going to a pizza buffet with some of our
recent converts.
Interesting FUN Fact: Brazil
doesn’t believe that the U.S. went to the moon. EVERYONE here believes it was a
hoax/conspiracy. I think Dani and her family would get along well with some of
the theories they have got down here! Elder Kozlowski and I always get
defensive when it comes up. haha
What I really miss: It’s good to hear you are getting an exercise
schedule again! I miss REALLY working out so much. My body feels so weak and
floppy, I hate it. I do push-ups, pull-ups, and other body weight exercises
every single day but it isn’t the same. I know how important it is to stay
healthy and its basically impossible here. If you can, get Dad working out
too!!!!
A Really Cool Spiritual Experience: Cinthia
was baptized last week. Her daughter has been really uninterested in our
messages. Every morning her mom wakes her up to do scripture study, she fights,
she’s always on her phone, etc. We taught her some lessons but decided to just
give her some time before teaching her again. On Saturday we fasted and to
start my fast I prayed about all of our investigators and recent converts and
asked for direction on who really needed the support of my fast specifically. I
felt impressed to fast for her and Elder K did too. So we fasted with her in
mind. On Sunday morning we showed up to church and her mom came running to us and
told us how the day before Maria had out of the blue decided she wanted to be
baptized! I know that the YW president and the Beehive girls had a lot to do with
it, they had an activity this week and did a GREAT job with integration, making
friends and making Maria feel welcome in the church, but I believe that our
fast contributed! It was really cool to see a direct outcome like that to our
fasting and prayers. I know that it doesn’t always work that way, and that we
also can’t expect God to mess with the agency of others, but I have a strong belief
that God was aware of our fast and the prayers of Cinthia, and many others.
Maria was baptized, since it was a surprise I didn’t have my camera so no pictures.
(In the picture of Cinthia being
baptized Maria is beside her.)
This makes 5 baptisms in 5 weeks, really baptizing in the right way. Me
and Elder K are really happy and know that we are being blessed for our obedience.
A really GROSS Experience:
During personal study on Saturday we sat
down, started reading scriptures, and a cockroach ran across our floor. Elder K
stomped on him and that was that. We went back to studying. A few minutes
later, two more were spotted. We killed ém real quick. Another minute passed
and 3 more came out from who knows where!!! It turned into an INVASION. Mom, in
less than one hour, we killed over FIFTY cockroaches entering our house. We did
some investigating…apparently someone sprayed an insecticide outside the
building and ALL THE COCKRAOCHES WERE RUNNING INTO OUR APARTMENT- fat, juicy,
gross cockroaches. We literally killed over fifty. Our floor got covered in
cockroach blood, it smelled SO BAD. I have a picture of the pile of cockroach
corpses at the end of the invasion. I HATE COCKROACHES. It was so gross, and to
say the least, I didn’t feel the spirit during that hour of personal study!
Another Package? Also an idea if you are wondering what things
you could send me, I am really interested in learning more about church
history, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, the details of the early history of the
church. I want to know more about how the church was created, before the church
was created and really be familiar with our heritage. We have some resources as
missionaries but I want things DETAILED and more specific to really learn. Also
any cool or good books that help explain gospel doctrine. Elder K has a book
called House of the Lord about the Salt Lake temple by Elder Talmage
that I read. That was really cool. But if anyone has any cool books and you
send another package, I would love some more reading material to really dive in
to the history of the church, the life of Joseph Smith and the witnesses of the
BOM, etc.
Spiritual thought bem rapido: I am reading 3 Nephi.
It’s really cool reading about the visit of Jesus Christ to the Nephites. In 3
Nephi 14:7-11 it talks about how God is always ready to answer our prayers and
give us what we ask for. Jesus gave an example of how an earthly father, a
being imperfect and influenced by the world, still loves his children to give
them what the need, how much more God, who has a PERFECT love for us, is
willing to give us blessings if we ask. But it is important to remember that
everything is given in accordance with the will of the Lord. HE knows what we
need, so it’s important to ask for the right things, otherwise if we are asking
for the wrong things we aren’t going to receive anything and maybe we will feel
disappointed or our testimony will be weakened. I was thinking of the example
of parents with their kids in the grocery store. The kids ALWAYS (or at least I
always did) ask for a candy bar or something like that at check out, and the
parents ALWAYS say no, because they KNOW their child doesn’t need that.
But
when their child has a school project or something like that and asks for help
and supplies, the parents are ready to help because they know the kid needs
these things. I think it’s like that with God sometimes. We can’t always be
praying to ask for the candy bar and then lose our testimony because we don’t
get the candy bar. We will receive, when we ask for the right things. We will receive
the things that we REALLY need. I need to learn this better!
Love you mom!
Your son, Elder Sork
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