Elder Clay Green's Brazil Belem Mission Blog: Week 19 - Working with Elder S. Oliveira in Obidos!

Clay with Elder Galindo and new companion Elder Oliveira

Ola!!

It sounds like everything is going good back home! I was so happy to hear that Derrick Henry got the Heisman! Can you send me some pictures of the award ceremony? I am pretty pumped about that. And what time do yall want to Skype on Christmas so we can plan?

So it has been kind of a crazy week and I didn't write in my journal all week so I will just have to try and remember what happened.

I was in Santarem to pick up my companion Elder Oliveira last Monday and we were supposed to leave on Tuesday but the boat left early and so we missed it and were stuck there another day. So we didn't arrive back here in Obidos until Wednesday. And when we arrived our house was kind of a mess because last week we had the surprise Zone Meeting and then the trio with Elder Lourenco and Elder Capello leaving and then me going to Santarem again to get Elder Oliveira. And my new companion is a clean freak so we did some deep cleaning on Thursday because he couldn't stand it!

Then our focus was on finding new investigators. We found a bunch and our main goal for this week is finding more!

Our zone Christmas party is in Santarem on Thursday so that is exciting. We will have tons of food and we get to play soccer and pool and all kinds of stuff. So I am excited about that. I have literally travelled to Santarem every week for the past month! I don't know how I have any money left!

There is a funny story that happened this week. We taught a woman and she committed to come to church. Before she can be baptized she would have to attend for two weeks and since she is going to be out of town on the 26th it was essential that she come this Sunday. She doesn't have a phone so we couldn't call and remind her. But she said she would spend the night at her brother's house since he lives closer to the church and promised that she would come on her own.

So Sunday came around and we waited and waited but she didn't come. So I know her aunt who is a member and lives close so we went to her house and asked her where the woman's brother lives. The aunt didn't know the address but said he lives right next to the place where all the prostitutes are. We didn't know where that was so we thought we were at a dead end. Then I thought to myself, "We have to bring this woman to church and as missionaries we can't be afraid to ask anyone anything." So I straight up went back to church and asked the bishop where this prostitute joint is located. He didn't say anything for a few seconds and then told us to go ask another ward member. We asked the ward mission leader and he said, "Oh Elders you don't want to go there!" Haha! But when we explained the situation he helped us. After all that we never did find the woman and she didn't come to church. But it is still a good story!

This week I read a story about a man on a boat. He was trying to keep his sense of direction by looking at the north star. But soon he realized that it wasn't the north star he was following - it was a firefly! How could he confuse a little firefly with such a brilliant star? The shaky and twisty boat made it easy for him to mistake the two. In life temptations seem more attractive because they are right in front of us and easy to grasp while the promised blessings of the Lord seem distant and far away. But the blessings of God are so much brighter and greater. We have to always strive to keep an eternal perspective and look beyond the things of the world no matter how attractive they are. We have to put off the natural man and become a saint through the Lord Jesus Christ. Mosiah 3:19.

Well that's it for this week. I love you all!

Elder Green