Most of this week was just getting to know our area and trying to find new people to teach! but overall it was good! also one of thing that we have been working a lot with is reactivating people! one thing i learned this week was that this area used to be a ward with over 100 active members! i'm not sure what happened but there was a huge drop in active members until it was only like 10 people active! apparently the mission president almost closed this city! crazy! so that is one thing we have been doing a lot of, visiting lots of inactives and trying to help them come back to church! its been quite a challenge so far with little success! but we keep at it, hoping that we can help some of these people out!
also we have been knocking on tons of doors and talking to people on the street! this also led to little success! but 've learned on the mission that if something doesn't work one time, it doesn't mean it isn't effective! its the "Try, Try again" method! just keep working at it and eventually we will have success!
we did have one huge bright spot this week! one of the members in our ward is the only member in her family, so we went there to talk to her family! we gave a good lesson to her 2 sisters and mom (the dad was working in another city) but it went really well! we asked to pray to know if the church was true and all that normal stuff we invite people to do! the next day we came back and the mom told us about this dream she had, it is kind of complicated for me to explain it in english because there some words that i know how to use in portugues that i don't exactly know the exact meaning in english! haha but overall the mom got an answer that the church was true and she wanted to be baptized! so that was legit! but the only hold up there is that the husband is hard core catholic, and even though he doesn't attend church ever, he doesn't want his family to join the church because it would ruin the tradition in the family! but we are trying to work with him.. actually we haven't even talked to him yet, he always avoids us! i think he knows that if he talks to us he will realize that he is wrong! haha but it is interesting to see that people are so scared to change! they like to just stay in there little comfort square and stay there.. even if doing something can help improve your life so much!! its hard to watch it, because i know that if they just try and apply the things that the gospel teaches, it will improve your life in so many aspects!
also this week i did a division with elder Rosa. he just finished his first transfer in the field! so that meant that i was senior for a day! ahaha it was fun! it was interesting to see how far i have come! see the differences in how to talk to people. the mtc teaches you that you need to just get out there, teach the people and then batize them. but one thing i learned is that you need to show that you aren't just there to throw them into the water, to show them that you actually are there to give them something that can help them out in life, and that part of that help, is baptism. interesting to see how my views and abilities as a missionaries had improved just after these 3 months more in the field than him! but he is a good missionary! he is so excited to be there and doesnt have fear of messing up! he just goes, which i thought was so cool! he didn't try to be something he wasn't he just did what he could! its cool to see that everyone can teach you something! i think that i have learned more for the people here, than i have taught them, or could ever teach them! haha.
Carnival started this saturday... and things are getting crazy!! haha the people get really into it! but it has been a little difficult to work, because no one wants to talk to us because of the parties, and we have to be home before 8 because it is pretty dangerous with all the drunks and crazies! hahaa! our house is like right in front of the center of town, where all the partying is! so there has been barely any sleeping! im not sure how the brazilians are not deaf! hahah they listen to music sooo loud here!
but it has been a good week, learned a lot about myself, being a missionary, and the culture here! hope that all is well for you all back home! appreciate the letters and emails! love you all!
Elder Ryan
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