Week 29: Pineapple Kills

Os missionarios de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo tão passando em sua rua, em seu conjunto! 

Não corre! Tamos andando beeem devegar em frente de sua casa!

Temos O Livro de Mórmon, a palavra do Senhor e as águas do batismo! 

Tudo que vc precisa pra receber sua salvação, de graça! de graça! 

**generic Brazilian pop song starts playing**

Hey guys, I'm planning on buying a speaker and blasting this script on repeat as we walk down the street. And I'm not crazy either! I've seen people driving their cars down the street--with a script like this playing--selling eggs, watermelons, rugs, cheese, and most recently, brooms.

Anyway, this week wasn't too bad. My companion got super sick for a day because he ate some pineapple before bed. Apparently it ate a hole in his stomach so he woke up throwing up and super tired. But, because of his will and determination and plenty of help from the Lord, that day actually ended up being our most productive this week!

Baptism by Immersion -- I baptized João Gabriel this week which was awesome! Everyone was super excited that he decided to be baptized sooner. Though, when we actually got in the water, I forgot to tell him to bend his legs, so I had to push a little to get him fully under, his hand let go of his nose, and he breathed in some water... Without ever even fully submerging... So we had to do it again! Luckily it worked out that time, but I'm still scared I scarred him for life thinking he was gonna drown that day. Also, most of the ward was there so now everyone jokes I wanted to drown him...

Favorite Hymn -- I am a Child of God

This one we sang at the baptism, and it's always a classic! And it relates well to the quick study of Abraham's blessing in Genesis, following Come Follow Me for this week.

I was impressed by Genesis 17:7-8, describing the covenant between God and the people of Abraham:

"I will be their God"... One thing I'm still studying and coming to understand is the Abrahamic covenant and our relationship with it. I know that as covenant keeps today, we are heirs of the same promises given to Abraham, just in the eternities, and the most significant of these promises for me is this one.

...

God exists. So what? For many people, this doesn't matter one bit, or they believe the contrary, that God cannot exist. In a way, this God does not exist; any influence He may have in their lives will be pushed aside as only coincidence or even trickery. 

But, to someone who believes in God.. This is where it actually gets a little difficult for me to imagine fully, because here in my part of Brazil, there are countless, countless people who believe in God. You ask someone on the street if they believe in God, they will likely say yes. But what does it mean to believe? If someone simply acknowledges that it's God's gentle current pushing their boat to the side but do the same as the athiest (i.e. nothing) because of it, do they still believe in God? Does the Sunday-only Christian, even the hyprocrite church member (one devoid of charity and humility), still believe in God? Yes, they do. I don't want to take that away from them. Because then I wouldn't believe.

My faith has already been challenged on the mission, by personal trials and by people asking me straight up and directly, believing that I don't really believe.

...

But! I am currently out of time! (And I also don't really know what I'm talking about) I will discuss this more later, how my faith has been challenged and how I know for myself that I believe and lastly, what this really means, or at least, what I think it means.

That's it for this week,

Till next time,

Elder Haroldsen