Week 20 - Christmas in Obidos!

Hello!

So this week went by really really fast but it was great. Lots of new investigators, a trip to Santarém for a Christmas party, lots of people at church, and we finished it off with a baptism!

So Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty typical days - a lot of walking and teaching a lot of lessons. Then Wednesday night we caught a boat to Santarém for the big mission party! We arrived there Thursday morning, met up with the sisters from Oriximiná and went to try and find this place. We took a bus and then walked for awhile and had no idea where we were. But then President and Sister Stasevskas came driving by in their little rental car. So we all piled in there and eventually found the place. It was at the end of an old sandy road but it was a really nice place! There was a huge grass field and a big ole pavilion with a pool table and TONS of food! This was the only day of the year we get to play soccer so we spent a lot of the day doing that. I made 2 goals and I felt pretty proud. I also brought my football so we played a little bit of that. And we played a lot of capture the flag as well. And of course we made use of the pool table. We also watched How to Train Your Dragon 2. It was a really fun day. 

Once it ended we went to the Zone Leaders house and stayed there for the night. Bishop Kilgore sent an envelope with lots of pictures and letters from the Bessemer ward. It was really nice. I enjoyed reading through all of it! 

Then early on Friday morning we went down to the boats to buy our lancha tickets. The lancha left at 8:30 and we got there at 7:30. But we found out there wasn't a lancha that went to Oriximina on Friday which meant the sisters were stranded! They took the lancha to Obidos with us and then took a bus from Obidos to Oriximina. So that was a little stressful but it worked out. 

Friday was a difficult day. I was SO sore! We never run or do any sports so after a whole day of running my body was hurting! But we still did lots of walking, slower walking... 

We had a baptism on Saturday - a 13 year old boy who already has a few family members that are less active. But he has lots of friends at church and has already been to church lots of times. We taught him throughout the week and everything was good for the baptism on Saturday at 10 am. when we passed his house at 9:40 he wasn't there. People were already waiting at the church and a member had made a cake and everything. Sometimes he stays with his cousin so I thought maybe he was at the other house or already at the church. So we were going to go look but as we were standing outside his house I said a little prayer and got a strong feeling that we needed to stay right where we were. I told Elder Oliveira that we need to stay put and we waited and waited. It was nerve-wracking but eventually we saw him come running over the hill! He took a quick shower and we made it to the church and baptized him. It might not sound like much but for me it was a really cool experience. It was a great meeting too. Lots of the young men in the ward were there to support him and what not. It was really good.

So earlier in the week we taught the elect couple I told you about a few weeks ago a really good lesson with the Bishop and his wife. We taught about them about the Sabbath day since they are having problems with coming to church. It was a great lesson. The bishop is really good and helped a lot. His wife cried when she bore her testimony and it was just great. The spirit was strong. We set up another visit for Saturday and for the next few days we planned a really cool lesson for them. We felt it was important that they learn to feel the Spirit. So we planned to show a little bit of the movie Finding Faith in Christ - only 10 or 15 minutes. Then once the Spirit was strong, we would show them a picture of Jesus and ask, "If Jesus was here right now, what would you ask him?" Then they would say a couple of things from the heart which we would write down. We would then say that as representatives of Jesus Christ we would like to give a blessing for their family and home. We would then kneel and say a prayer. After the prayer, once the Spirit was at its peak, we would invite them to church the next day and then leave. They say they love our messages and visits but we thought it was important to leave quickly after the prayer so they could continue to feel the Spirit after we left. We felt really good about it and were preparing for it through the day on Saturday. But guess what, we went to their house that night and they weren't there! It was only 7:30 so we sat down and waited, and waited and waited. They never came. Finally we left and bought some dinner. When we returned home I called to invite them to church on Sunday. The husband answered a little rudely (he has our number saved in his phone so he knew it was us). I heard noise in the background like they were maybe at a party or something. I asked how he was and he was still being a little rude with me. I then asked if they were planning on coming to church, and he didn't say anything for a couple of seconds. And then he hung up in my face!! At that point I was a little bit irritated - it was just so strange. A few days before they acted interested and set up a return appointment with us. Anyway, they didn't come to church on Sunday and that night we had the Christmas Devotional broadcast so we called to invite them to that but they didn't answer. So I don't know what we will do with them. I guess back off. But it was really sad that we had this big lesson planned but now they turned on us.

But anyway on Sunday we had 3 progressing investigators at church. We went to this one lady's house to bring her to church but she said she wasn't going.. even though she said that she would come to church and so we told her we would come by her house to get her. So we walked a long way in the heat, and then she said she wasn't going. Straight up lied to us. Not that lying to us is very uncommon. But while we were returning to the church, we found a man who was baptized in another city and has lived in Óbidos for 3 years but hasn't been coming to church. He said on Sunday he felt like he needed to go so we walked to church with him and his woman (She isn't a member and they aren't married). They had a really good experience and we will start teaching them. Then the primary president called me out of our gospel principles class and said she had 8 kids in Primary that are over eight and aren't baptized. We also had 2 young men there that weren't members and 2 adults. So we had a total of 11 potential investigators at church! We got lots of addresses and will visit them all this week! So that was great!

It hasn't really felt like Christmas time to me. I am used to Christmas being a little cold and every day here it is a solid 95 degrees. But Sunday it felt a lot more like Christmas. Papai Noel (Santa Claus) visited Óbidos Sunday and was giving out free presents to the kids here. I swear every kid in Óbidos was out there, in the middle of the dirt street, waiting for Papai Noel. SO many people. But eventually, Papai Noel arrived on the back of a beat up truck throwing candy! He was kind of funny looking - skinny and dark skinned - but the kids went nuts! And in the midst of all this, a big storm passed through and it started raining really hard! But that didnt stop them! It was hilarious. There were tons of little kids, soaking wet and muddy. But they had big ole smiles and were guarding their presents like their life depended on it! It was really cool that those people gave free gifts to all the kids here. I enjoyed it! We thought about going around offering all the people the gift of Eternal Life but the rain stopped us! 

After that we went to the church to practice singing in the ity bity Óbidos ward choir we were forced to join. But since we sang Christmas songs it was fun. After that we watched the Christmas Devotional. During the Devotional I got some really strong Christmas time feelings. The music and the messages were really good. It finally feels like Christmas! Sunday was a good day!

So that's about it for this week. I love being a missionary. Alma 29:9 "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy."

I am learning so much here. It is sad to think that my time in Óbidos could be coming to an end soon. I don't know for sure that I'll be transferred in January but I've heard that the president usually doesn't leave missionaries in one area longer than 3 transfers and this is my third one here. I have made so many friends here. To think that I couldn't really speak any Portuguese when I arrived is crazy. I have learned a lot from these people.

Love you all and have a Merry Christmas!

Elder Green