Letter #61

Dear Family, 

My letter is late today but it's for a good cause. Today was preparation day, and we spent it with the President and what a p-day it has been! I´m going to give you the cliff notes version but be sure to get the photos from the site of the mission when Sister Genaro puts them up. That will illustrate it better I think. 

Our week started off well, though I admit to being very worried this week. When something is not equal to the ideal do not settle for less! Do not be lulled into mediocrity and then into ruin! The Book of Mormon speaks of this, the devil´s flaxen cords. Alright, well we worked hard, had quite a few families marked to go to church and our plans were smooth, very smooth. That was our focus, because this week anyone that's been to church once can be baptized Saturday on our mission's "Dia de Branco," or Day of White. It's going to be spectacular ; ) I did 4 or 5 interviews this week all around, even leaving on the spur of the moment to travel to another ward during the church classes. Went well, and the interviewee will be baptized Sunday. One interview was very special in Leonor where I had the opportunity to talk with a very sincere loving young man whose desire to follow Christ in his life is incredible. It was a spiritual experience for me. 

 

This whole week your package, wonderful is not enough to describe it, has been keeping me alive in the mornings and when we get home. Just Nutella and bread and Nutella and apples and Nutella and a spoon. It's been excellent and my companion, who also is a Nutella fan club member has been enjoying it as well. He also gave his first talk here in the mission, and it was pure power. I felt validated as a trainer as he quoted me five times, saying each time, "Elder Schenewark says..." 

 

Sunday almost everyone fell through on their commitments which was highly disappointing, but it was nice to have two men that went, one which is very special to us. We will work towards his baptism this week. Stay tuned. Our mission is 25 away from breaking the record for the mission and our zone is 19 away from breaking the record for most baptisms by a zone in the month. We want to increase that and hit 50 with 21 baptisms this week breaking the record for most in a week and the month and the month for the mission and likely putting us in 3rd as a mission for baptisms in Brasil. We're all about effective logistical measurements here. I mean, it is about accelerating the work! 

So today. We went to the president's apartment at 9: 00 a.m. and ate a wonderful breakfast, introduced first with some reading from the Missionary manual that instructed us on the bounds of our activities for p-day. Then we changed clothes and played soccer, ping pong, fusbol, scripture trivia with water in the face for those who erred. (I bested E. Alves with the correct response to "Who replaced Judas as the 12th apostle?" Huh, huh! ) 

 It rained as we played, cooling us off. We even shot some hoops. President beat me in ping pong but it was close and I got a little arrogant on my serves ; ) I played goalie like a pro stopping Elder Peterson's attack. Our team only lost three times, with a spectacular run of I think 6 wins in a row. I served in Brasil and yes I played soccer. Fantastic, but that wasn't it. We showered, changed and got into a van to go to a churrasco, BBQ where they walk around with loads of delicious slices of cows, pigs and chickens for you to eat. Like Fogo da Chão. Fantastic. Then they gave us all giant chocolate bars. WOW I don't think I'll top this in the mission. Like I said, the cliff notes. But it was spectacular in every respect. It's nice to win.

 

This week I'm going to be playing traveling district leader, going to all the areas to make sure everyone is baptized this week. Next week will be transfers, and because President likes to hint A LOT, I think I'll be going. So I want to go out with a bang.

 

I want to share a quick thought. Have you ever really boiled down why we are here on earth? To become more like our Heavenly Father (see E. Uchtdorf´s talk in priesthood April 2013). We can't do that without knowing how, or without knowing the process to become more like him--the gospel. Thus missionary work is really a prerequisite to living. You can't really live until you know why you're living. And that goes for everyone. The three missions of the church are to proclaim the gospel, perfect the saints and redeem the dead. None of this happens without missionary work and all of it happens by missionary work. Saints are perfected in sharing the gospel and the rest of it is just proselyting. And when you have been warned, warn your neighbor. 

Sunday we were caught in the most epic hurricane storm of Londrina's history that downed hundreds of trees, signs, roofs, etc. Also a first for E. Alves getting caught in the rain. Felt like the world was going to end, and somewhere in that turmoil of flying capybaras and redneck chickens, I thought, the world is going to end! Wouldn't it be sad if everyone wasn't able to hear about the gospel! Share your testimony every day, and you will be happy. Ammon said that the greatest blessing was to be used as an instrument in the Lord's hand (Alma 26). It is : ) And it's even better to do it together.

I love you, I am so thankful for you. This week, visit a less active family and invite them to do something fun with you ; )

Love (is sharing the gospel),

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