Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Summiting the Mountain

Dear People,

Today was wonderful. We woke up at 4:55 AM and then re-woke up at 5:20 to prep for a hike to a giant statue called ´´Cristo o Redentor.´´ I packed two sandwiches of banana, peanut butter (thanks guys), and honey and filled up a jug of milk with a litre of water. I of course had to bring my new aviators that I bought for 15 reais ($9). We left the house at 6 and my companion decided to do the whole journey in flip-flops. It was over 20 kilometers round trip. And it was worth every step of the way! It was cool when we left and we saw the sun come up and we got a little irrated due to all the switch backs and trails to no where, but once we reached the top it was amazing. We were able to climb inside the statue and look out the top of his head! I am going with a 100 feet tall. The problem was that you had to go up a jank metal ladder and it was pitch black. I tried going up but then a bat flew by my ear and I almost wet myself so I quickly returned. My comp then went slowly with his eyes closed. I saw 10 bats fly by during his ascent. Once the coast was clear, I just sprinted up there and arrived sweaty and breathing hard. But once I arrived, the view was breath taking. I could see for miles around and just felt happy. We almost got stopped by police on the way back who were looking for looking for some bandits. I guess I looked to American to match the description. I hope you guys like the pictures.

We have been really struggling to have lasting progressing investigators. We always find tons of new people every week to teach, but something always happens. One man we were teaching said he recieved an answer about the Book of Mormon and then later said that it distorted the teachings of Christ. It amazes me how easily people are influenced by the opinions of others. Another understood that they needed to be baptized again, but later stopped because their family is catholic and they did not want to feel alone. This is not to say we are without success. We have several peopl progress for baptism and I hope see the fruits in the next two weeks.

As always, the mission is just hilarious for me. We were teaching a couple whose son has problems with drugs and their grandson ran into the street. The grandpa yelled, ´´Come back here!´´ The boy, who has an eye patch to help with his cross-eyedness yelled back ´´Your Potatoe!´´

Another day, we were walking and a bird flew out of a bush and I jumped back about 5 feet yelling ´´Freaking freakers´´ much to my companions amusement.

We were visiting an investigator, but he had 24 litres of beer between him and his friend. We decided that another day would probably be better to visit him. We are going to re-teach the Word of Wisdom.

I had the privilege of being called to a leadership meeting where we talked about how we can improve our prayers and our teaching to investigators´needs. At the end, President Tanner announced that he will only be able to serve for two years as mandated by the first presidency as a result of health problems. As he told the news, I cried for the second time in the field (the first being with Elder Bybbe when I lost a bunch of letters from home) He will only be here for 4 more months, but I will support the new Preisdent the best I can. I hope you guys have a great week and always do your best even when you dont want to.

Come on really,
Elder Healy



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