We had some good work this week. We have been preparing some people to be baptized coming up this Saturday, so that is pretty exciting. We also received a couple of references from now recent convert, Gleiciane. She has a couple of friends in the neighborhood who are interested in going to church and learning from us. We were able to talk to one of them briefly and we are setting up times to meet with them this week. That is always great, receiving references as opposed to going out and knocking on every door.
My piano responsibilities have now expanded to a stake-wide level. Apparently there is only one other ward in this stake of like 6 wards who has a pianist. I am the pianist now for our main ward, Guararapes. But because of the ward split, part of our area is in area Dunas, so Makino and I attend that ward also. I am the pianist in that ward as well. I have also been called upon to play in the ward Christmas performance on the 20th. And yesterday I was asked to accompany for the Guararapes Ward’s primary program this coming Sunday. It’s a little stressful because I don’t have a lot of time to practice with all of the work we are doing, and the chapel is a good 20 minute walk from our area. We’ll see how it goes. I know that relying on the Lord is really the only way I will be able to get all of these things done.
I also convinced the Brazilian elders in our district of the importance of eating a ton on Thanksgiving (even thought they don’t celebrate that holiday). So Makino and I went and bought a bucket of fried chicken from KFC. That was one of the strangest experiences, eating an American meal here in Brazil. So good. Also, we got to celebrate a little Black Friday over at the local Sam’s club. I’m pretty sure this area is one of the few with such American commodities. Got some ketchup, Doritos, and Nutella. Never have I felt more American here in Brazil. But things are all great and we are continuing to work hard.
As always, I am loving the work and the people I am serving here in Fortaleza.
Elder Perry
