WEEK 9: Finding Beauty in Everything

Elder Perry and Elder Makino at the beach (not ON the beach)

Hello everybody! Another week done here in Fortaleza. The time seems to be going by so quickly now. Those first few weeks of just looking for people to teach, walking miles and miles in the heat, clapping at doors, were excruciating. But now, we've gotten into a bit of a groove and have found some more people to teach, so that has been great.

This week, we were able to set 2 baptismal dates. Both with older women, who were both very accepting of our messages. Sometimes, I'm not sure if they're fully understanding everything, because usually they just have a distant look in their eyes, and say "sim" to everything. But they both have said "ëu aceito" or "Ï accept" so... hopefully that yields some fruit. They have been with Celia and Socorro, who are always taking care of little children when we come by their homes. So that has been wonderful.

On Tuesday, our member who was going to provide us lunch had forgotten, and gave us each some money to go buy something. Feeling rich, the senior comps hailed an uber and took me and Elder Haddock to Dallas Grill. Imagine Chuck-A-Rama, but all-you-can-eat Brazilian meats as well. A lot of American food, sushi, salad, fruit, you name it. The place had a really cool vibe. So the 4 of us sat there and ate and ate and ate. It was so great. Needless to say, the final bill was a little larger than we imagined, but we were able to pay it off without any problems. Mostly.

We had a couple of cool days this week as well. On Wednesday, we did a "Divisao"with Elder Duque and Elder Haddock. I was Duque's senior companion for the day, and we went around and mostly contacted in our area. That was fun. The contacting has gotten a lot more interesting for me because I am finally able to understand nearly 100% of what people are saying and am able to respond. It was on that split with Duque when we found Celia. Nice. Then on Saturday, Makino and I did some work with Paulo, a young man in the ward. He was very helpful. He showed us some of the houses of his nonmember friends who we are going to teach this coming week.

Anyway, lots of good work this week. Finding people who will fully accept the gospel and be baptized is not always super easy, but I have felt day after day the benefits and blessings that come from hard work. We were really all over the map. From bible discussions, to eating Acai, to passing by untamed animals, to seeing the ocean. I have learned to find beauty in everything, because this country truly is beautiful.

Elder Perry

Casa E Pesca, one of the neighborhoods in Elder Perry's area

Parque Estadual do Coco