Farmer's and guns...

Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2013 10:49:34 -0300
Subject: Re: The Magic Number today is 137
From: adj1991@myldsmail.net

Hello Everyone

So this past week...

Not much happened actually. Well, come to think about it a lot happened!! But I don’t know how to explain all of it - maybe in a bulleted list.

• We found 8 more people to be baptized. Luciano, Adriano,Clemerson, Socorro, Fagner, Joselio, Claudia and Jefferson.
• Fagner´s dad won’t let him go to church to be baptized.
• Adriano, Socorro, and Luciano are all family and the man in their house that isn’t even the dad said that we couldn’t go back there, which is ridiculous because this man is like 35 years old and isn’t a parent of any of them, he is living there because he is dating or living with Socorro’s daughter which is 13 years old. Yeah I know it’s a horrible situation where we work!
• Joselio, Clemerson, and Claudia are all a family as well, but only Joselio went to church. the others either had other plans or just plainly didn’t want to go this past Sunday. We try and teach that Sunday is a commandment, but people still don’t understand.
• Jefferson is a friend of Joselio that went to church with him, they both accepted baptism for the 15th that we are hoping to do with the rest of their families.

If all these people eventually get baptized, then they will be the first baptisms for Elder Guzman when I am no longer here in this area. Next Wednesday (the 11^th) it is the transfer, so most likely I will leave and go somewhere a little hotter, but with less apostasy and law breaking. I think I will be transferred to be a Zone Leader in an area called Rangel or Mamanguape. My favorite area so far has been Mossoró. and I don’t think it’s very possible to return to the same area you have already stayed at. The other areas are just like mine, but without a huge farm area, or as many weird relationship situations!!!  Right now, well most of my area is the city, but Elder Guzman and I are walking about 45 minutes out of our way to go to the farming area that has all of our baptisms. Here in Campina Grande we are in Winter, but it’s already starting to end. It’s getting hotter around here and really annoying.
I am not too happy when I sweat more and more - but yeah this week was kind of sucky, but with a great outcome.  In the farming area, the men have come together to make sure we can’t bring any of their families to church. I don’t really know why, but we are not going to give up that easy. Two good things happened....two young men went to church that want to be baptized on the 15^th, so we marked the 15th because we want the rest of their families to be baptized as well!

Another lady, Fabricia, has been an investigator for about a year, or well since she has been married, she has finally been baptized. I have worked with her so much, and wasted so much time trying to teach her, but finally she decided and it happened. The baptism really happened!! Fabricia, has been going to church this whole time, she just one day said that she wanted to get baptized. I think it was when her husband got a calling and she saw him as a different man - he is the one that baptized her!  Oh what a relief. but that’s about it!

Oh and on Saturday Elder Guzman and I were almost robbed on the street. I was surprised that we weren’t, but we were pretty stupid at this moment. We were trying to hitch a ride on the freeway, this has a speed bump on the other side of the two lane freeway. While waiting, we saw two men robbing other men with a gun. We weren’t sure if it was a gun but I thought I saw one. Anyways, after they robbed the people on the other side of the street, we watched them as they crossed the freeway onto our side. (that was the stupid part).  I don’t know why we watched them crossing the street but we did and there were 4 people about 12 feet from us talking and we watched as one of the men pull out the gun and point it at one of them. Once we finally saw this, we started walking very fast to an area that these men wouldn’t of seen us or even try to rob us.  It WAS ridiculous that we watched this whole thing, but it’s the first time on my mission that it came that close. Elder Guzman and I and the four people who were robbed were the only people on our side of the freeway, and before they were crossing I was on the phone trying to call people.  It was a miracle we weren’t robbed, but I am very grateful that I am looked out for.  Yeah, it was close, but at least I am doing great and nothing bad has happened to me.

I am thinking that I am truly going to try and move my tracks at BYUi because it would be so much easier not going in the fall and just going January-July. Oh and I have been thinking about a child development classes. I realized that I am great with children and I love children, so why not? But then again I am only thinking about the good side of children, and not the dirty nasty consequences, and to be honest I have no idea what I meant by the child development classes. We will see.

Oh yeah, I wrote back to Sean and he can use my shoes. I thought Nic was using them anyways and I saw all of Sean's pictures too.

Ok well I have to go now. I will talk with you next Wednesday. It will probably be later than usual, I say that because as I said I think I am going to be transferred.

I love you and I pray for all of you always.  Thank you so much for everything!

Oh and I am still thinking about coming back to Brasil and of course I write to Emily every week about where we are going to live as a couple when we finish our missions!! LOL!

Well that’s all,

 

love,

 

elder adam jensen

 

p.s. It’s less than 137 days. it’s like 132 days now!!  Don’t use the calculator to actually count the days. I am saying the 15^th of January because that is the day I am counting until, and of course I don’t count today!