Monday, February 18, 2013

February 18, 2013 Letter


So this week we didn't have a baptism.  But this week it looks like we will have 3!

I started the week with a light cough that steadily got worse as the week progressed.  By Thursday my tonsils and lymph nodes  were super swollen it started getting hard for me to swallow and then my voice started to get lost ; )  Yeah, so that was really frustrating   I ended up going to the doctor Saturday morning and he passed a prescription for anti-inflammatory and antibiotics.  I also asked him about a small cough or "err hmm"  I have had for a long time (a few years)  I just started noticing it because a sister in my zone (that sings almost professionally) and asked me about it.  I guess I always thought that it was something normal because I sing a lot and played a bunch of sports that required a lot of yelling.  I started trying to remember when I started with the ''errr hmmm'' and I remembered that in my sophomore year in high school during a soccer game I was hit in the throat and coughed up blood,  and afterwards I lost my voice for a few days.  Well the doctor said that I could be a scar or mini laceration that is causing irritation or producing mucus.  So he said that I could see a specialist who could resolve the problem for me.  I don’t think that it’s something that is really urgent so maybe when I get home I will look for a specialist that can take a look at my throat. 

So other than that stuff, the week was good.  I got to visit Outeiro again on Sunday as part of a Stake activity that I planned to help the branch.  I visited José Gabriele and Lourdes.  Gabriele was a girl I baptized there.  The family has had some problems with health and because of that they have a lot of debts (unfortunately the debts are with a loan shark).  But because Lourdes got so sick she wasn’t baptized.  During the visit I taught about the necessity of baptism and the healing effects of the gospel (I used Alma 36,I think, when Alma recounts the agony and pain of sin and the peace and joy that comes through the atonement of Christ).  At the end of the visit I challenged Lourdes to be baptized this next Saturday.  It was a powerful visit.  Oh and she accepted, but wanted to pray about it first.  I also told her that if by Saturday she had received an answer that I would love to baptize her.

I think the mission is really tough but definitely worth it.  I learn so much each day and it’s exciting to meet new challenges.  

We have just finished one more transfer and I will be staying here in Satélite for at least 6 more weeks with Elder Leite.  But our zone has moved a lot.  It’s not going to be easy with a some of the missionaries that are arriving in the zone but I will do my best to help them be their best.

I love you guys so much!  Eu amo Voces!  Yeah that’s right.  I love you guys in English and Portuguese. ; )

Love,
Ben

No comments:

Post a Comment