Third week in the mission field! This week was the first time that life out in the field seemed normal. I'm starting to get into a routine and adjust to the culture of Brazil. My comp and I worked hard this week and had the opportunity to teach a few different people.
The work with people this week has definitely improved. We taught multiple lessons this week and did a lot of contacting in the street. I want to talk about one family in particular.
This week we received a reference from a member about a family that is in our area. We planned a lesson with them late at night and made the hour walk through dark alley ways and mud to teach them. It was a little sketchy, but this is the stuff in the mission that makes it so cool. We taught them about the restoration of the gospel and talked about eternal blessings. I was able to share about why I'm here serving a mission and the things that I know to be true. The Spirit was very strong in the lesson. You could see a light switch turn on in their heads when we promised the blessings you could receive from the gospel. They agreed to baptism and invited us back, so I'm praying they gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon!
I also had the opportunity to give a talk in church this week. It's one thing to give a talk in English but Português is a whole other thing lol. I talked about the Plan of Happiness that we have here on earth and the opportunity we have to live with the people we love most for eternity. It was so awesome to have the opportunity to talk to the members about the things I know to be true.
We had a couple of branch activities with the members this week, and it was a ton of fun to get to know them better and have a good time. One thing I've noticed about the people here is that family means everything. No matter what their circumstance is, they are grateful for the people in their life.
One thing I learned this week is to control what you can control. There are certain things in our life that we will have absolutely no control over and it's important to focus our attention on things that matter. In the mission field, I've learned to take things one day at a time and always be present in the moment. Every day is a new chance to be better than the day before and if we focus on the little things we can do each day, we will eventually reach our end goal!
I love missionary work and wouldn't want to be doing anything else in my life right now. This is my life for the next two years and I love it. Life back home seems so distant. During a lesson this week a man was watching a big-time soccer game and one that I would've definitely watched back home, and I found it funny that I had no idea it was even happening. It just goes to show how immersed you become as a missionary in the work of the Lord. The hard times and difficult things you endure while on a mission are completely worth it when you have the chance to help change someone's life.
Elder Copeland
