Letter #55

Dear Family, 

I know my letters have been short and I don't like that either. Today I have a new keyboard that promises to bring my letters to new lengths. . . let's begin.

This transfer is almost over! What? Flew by, and continues to fly by faster. Quick answers, there are eight missionaries in my district and as of the Thursday last week my package had still not arrived. . . 

I'm doing so great today! There are plenty of things that I think I could whine about right now, but the mission spirit just doesn't let you do that. You just have to keep going upwards and onwards. 

We had a baptism this week. She is a sweet person and will surely one day make a great contributing leader of the church. Two of our converts were interviewed for the Priesthood Sunday and will be receiving that the next Sunday. Also, one young man we reactivated received the Melchizedek priesthood and is planning on leaving for a mission at the end of the year. He gave a small talk in sacrament meeting. Big smiles ; )

We are planning on moving houses this week. . .We'll see if it happens, but I have this odd feeling that it will and that I'll get transferred just in time to open up yet another house somewhere. Seems to be a calling I have : \

Speaking of transfers, almost all of the zone leaders and both the assistants will leave in the next couple of transfers, some really big groups, so the mission is buzzing with the excitement of what is going to happen, lots of changes, the new president beginning to hit his stride, etc.

We flew kites this morning as you can see. It is a very popular pastime here with the mulekes in Brasil, except they generally coat their lines with a homemade glue mixed with glass. This allows them to cut other peoples kites and running to catch them, increase their collection of "pipas." Fun stuff, except the wind wasn't very cooperative today. We'll try again next week.

We enter this last week of the transfer running, face first into the wind. Our battle is daily but it isn't the tangible one dramatized in films. It's inside of us and results in gains and losses much greater and significant than those of life or death.

I felt blessed this week as we taught. On Saturday night we were teaching a family when I began to feel terrible, really really terrible, not sick but sick with fear, as if I needed to run from that place. So run we did. Quickly ending the lesson and canceling our plan of showing the film of the restoration, we boot-scoot boogied out of not just the house but the whole area, not knowing exactly why or where we were going. Well, the night ended well and we thought nothing much of it until the next day when a member who lives close to that particular neighborhood informed us that less than twenty minutes after we had left that house a very, very large contingency of police personnel and vehicles descended on that area in a massive crackdown on drugs. I don't know what would have happened if we had been there, but I know it wasn't where the Lord wished us to be. I am grateful for the inspiring gift of the Holy Ghost and his guiding hand day to day to day. We are nothing, we can do nothing without it, in our mission, or in our lives. It comes with fasting and diligent prayer.

Pushing along,

Love,

Tanner