Tuesday December 13, 2011

Dear family and friends,

 

yesterday we had our Christmas conference which was one of the most spiritual and frustrating times at the same time. We had Elder Texeira of the first quorum of the 70 speak to us, and I really think he likes english better than portuguese, because he kept switching back to english, and then to portugese. I sort of felt bad for the brazillians there that couldn't understand the English. The whole mission was there, and it was interesting to sit and talk with old friends and companions. Elder Whitaker, Elder Searle, and I all sat and talked for a while during lunch. Elder Searle reported that they are still baptising the people him and I found when we were there in Ermesinde. He is still there. Elder Whitaker was called to be district Leader in Vila Franca de Xira, but then decided he didn't like it, so the next transfer was transfered to be in another area in the middle of Nowhere, Portugal. We sang songs, had fun, and met a lot of new people.

 

Elder Brown, my trainer has 6 more months left on his mission and was so happy to see me sitting on the stand yesterday with the other zone leaders. He came up to me, and told me he was glad that his greenie turned out ok. I was his first person to train, and he thought he had failed.

 

Elder Del Aguila is going home on December 20th. He is from Houston, TX, and he has already extended for 9 weeks, so he is going home, but oh well, he is one of the greats.

 

Presidente Torgan was speaking to us, and then paused, and then he said that the spirit has commanded him to bless each and every one of us with protection from evil and against the firey darts of Satan.

 

We got to get together as a zone and one of our missionaries refused to wear his plaque and told us that he doesn't believe the gospel anymore. This is super hard for everyone to see this because he was one of the legends. He baptized nearly 50 people in Portugal which is almost unheard of, and now he has given up and told us that he doesn't pray or fast or do anything anymore, that the story of the church is a "nice story". I debated whether or not to share this, but I think is goes to show an example, that when we stop doing the basics, pray, read, fast, and follow the savior, we lose the most important things to us . . . including our testimony. It is super sad to see that one of gods most faithful missionaries can fall into the same trap. Our mission president told us he would be going home since this has been happening for over 2 transfers now. This is his last transfer in the mission, and he is going home early. How sad . . . how sad. The legends are the ones who finish strong and work until the last hour of their missions. It shows me the kind of missionary I want to be, the one who finishes strong.

 

The great missionaries are not the ones who baptize and baptize and baptize, the great missionaries are the ones who work as hard as they can every day of their mission.

 

Love

 

Elder Hope