Staying in Lago Sul

Well hello!

Today is another transfer day where some people stay, some people leave, some people--well that´s about it actually. I´ll be staying in Lago Sul with E. Parada for at least another 1.5 months and I´m excited. I´ve gotten a better hang of how things work around here and I´m so happy to be visiting the people we´re visiting. Cida is progressing and, after she gets to know the ward a little better, she said she wants to get baptized. Leo is opening up and really liking the Book of Mormon. He says he knows it´s true but we´re trying to help him understand the importance of prayer and a response from prayer. 

One potential hang up (I don´t think I´ve ever used that phrase, hopefully it works in this context...) is that these people live closer to the church in São Sebastião than the church in Lago Sul. The boundaries for our area are poorly defined. As of now, this condominium where they live is in our area so we´re working there (no missionaries have ever gone there). We´d like to take them to Lago Sul so we can work with them and the ward at the same time, but this is difficult for them (and the type of people are a lot different). We talked to the Bishop about what he would have us do. He´s going to talk to the Stake President about the boundaries and maybe re-dividing things. So we´ll see how it all works out soon. As of now we´ll continue working in this condominium close to São Sebastião and the other condominiums closer to "Lago Sul" Lago Sul. 

E. Parada and I had a cool experience yesterday. Preface: last week we ran into a nice married couple in Lago Sul. They said they would like to have us over and gave us their number. We tried calling them a few times but their phone was always turned off. After trying 3 different times, Elder Parada thought "I think this 6 is supposed to be a 4" so he tried the whole number with 4 instead of a 6 and no one answered. 10 minutes later someone called back and asked who was talking and why we had called. E. Parada said we´re missionaries and explained what we do and said "Honestly, I´m not quite sure why I called you". The guy on the other end then explained that he is getting a divorce with his wife and is having a really hard time. He said he had been praying just before we called that God would help him because he had no where to turn and is looking for a new start in his life. We wrote down his name and address to pass to the missionaries that live in his area. I´m grateful for experiences like this that act as reminders of the power of prayer. It is common to pray for the same things everyday, such as the safety of one´s family. Sometimes I forget to look back and see how my family really has been blessed with safety. The things we pray for are never trivial for the Lord. Keeping track of what I pray for has been one of the strongest faith building habits I´ve ever learned. I remember in general conference someone said "Because we see things often, we see them less and less". This principle applies to the answers to our prayers. As soon as we start looking for how our prayers have been answered, we´ll find out exactly how.

Take excellent care of yourselves, (even you, Blake)

Love,

Bryce