Last Week's email

So this week was intersting for many reasons lol... Wednesday we had splits with our district leader and his companion. I went with the District Leader´s companion and Gomez went with the District Leader. It gave me some time to repent and return to my normal happy self. Ever since then I have not had a problem with Gomez. Of course it still is not easy but I am bearing it all perfectly and am staying within myself. But on the split I went and passed by the house where one of our baptisms fell through, Lucas. Two weeks ago he ran away from us when we picked him up for his baptismal interview. But Elder Quintino and I were able to talk to him that day. He told us that he was not baptized the week before because he was afraid of Elder Gomez and thought that he is ugly. He said he could not be baptized that day because of the anger and fear that he had towards my companion. Wow... I know right?... But I managed to convince him to be baptized saturday and he was. You want to know how I did it? Lol... Do you remember that Football game in warren wherein we watched Aj kick? Do you remember that I had bought two water bottles and a pickle for mom? Well I had forgot that I had six extra bucks left over that I forgot to return to you guys. One day I was walking in the rain and put my hand in one of the pockets and found the six bucks. What do you do with six american dollars in Brazil? I made a promise with Lucas that if he were to be baptized I would give a one dollar bill. And he did get baptized, I signed the one dollar bill and gave it to him. Best use of a dollar in my life lol. Sorry for not returning the money. This just goes to show that every action has its equal and opposite reaction lol. But I am on the mission site again for having baptized 3 weeks in a row! And we have some more baptisms lined up for this next saturday! Thursday and friday were normal but saturday was an interesting day. Saturday we had lunch on the otherside of town, very far away. An hour and a half´s walk. So we decided to take the bus. Well, I did. My comp did not want to pay the four reais for the bus fee so I bought his fare. On the bus I sat next to this sketchy dude but did not think anything of it. It was 11 o´clock, perfectly bright outside, and lots of people were on the bus. So I thought, eh nothing is going to happen. Well We got off the bus and I noticed that the mission cellphone was no longer in my pocket. We called the phone a few times listening to the ring and looking all around and found nothing. On the last call we made the line cut... Which means someone had turned the cell phone off. Then it hit us. The sketchy dude had pick pocketed me. Crap... And it had my camera´s memory card in it... So I lost a bunch of pictures, and some LDS music. But the bigger guilt I felt was that we had to call the Mission President, the secretaries, zone leaders, and district leader what had happened. I felt super irresponsible. But everyone said not to worry about it and that all would be okay. But we continued on with our day, had lunch, pained an entire house as a service project, and had another split with our district leader to be able to baptize Lucas. After the baptism the bishop cooked hamburgers and french fries and then we had cake and ice cream. My first baptism that had refreshments afterwards. But I learned a little bit more that happiness is a choice. You could choose to let being robbed get you down, or you can think that God is testing you in some way and that blessings are ready to be placed in your life. You control you. You cannot control the past thinking about the past. But you can control the present and future thinking about the present and future. Your life is what you make it. The way you think and act will be the means in creating your life. You choose to have a blessed life. Then sunday I gave a talk on the atonement of Jesus Christ for Easter. I spoke after the youth speaker and before the stake president. After the meeting some members told me that I had made them cry, that my talk was amazing, and others said that I had the best talk that day. Wow... okay! Lol but it was a great experience. I am no longer nervous to speak in front of everyone in Portuguese. And I actually enjoy the mic time. Giving talks is quite fun! I am thankful for the opportunities that I had to speak with you and Dad. It truly has been a benefit in my life and my mission. I also had to teach the gospel doctrines class again. Thanks dad for having prepared me for this by teaching priesthood class and temple preparation class. And today I celebrated my 6 month mark by eating subway! First time having something somewhat American in a long while. I had a 6inch chicken teriyaki combo. 7.57$US. Pretty good huh? Oh and the meal deals here are 3 or 4ish dollars US. But that was fun. Also happy burthday mom! You´ve had a birthday shout hurray! I want to sing to you today! One year older and wiser too! Happy birthdya, to you! I hope dad has the chance to sing his crazy vocals for your in the happy birthday song like always. That always makes us laugh and smile. Enjoy your birthday! And enjoy this week! And if possible, cold you send me a new memory card for my camera so I can take pictures? Just send it in a little envelope so it won´t be super expensive. Memory cards here are ridiculous. But have a great week! I love you guys! Just a year and a half to go! Chão!