Our missionary has been busy. He's been out in the field for 11 weeks now, has had two companions, but has lived in the same area the whole time. His language skills have progressed rapidly, to the point that he can have conversations without a native speaker there to save him, and can talk about deeper topics.
Here's some updates from his letters:
"It's hard to believe that it's almost Christmas. Things have been pretty good here. We've had some fun celebrations with the members, including a ward Christmas dinner and a special musical program last night. My comp and I helped with some of the piano, and it was a good way to feel more of the Christmas spirit here."
"After the program ended the ward surprised us with a massive gift basket of treats and food, and shared their appreciation for our efforts. It was really thoughtful and was an awesome surprise."
"We've been talking to a lot of people, and this week we decided to try something new and contact in front of the chapel and give mini tours to people who are interested. We've met some awesome people, and I was even able to have conversations, invite them to be baptized, and gave a tour all on my own (in Portuguese)! There's a long way to go but it's nice to see progress. One of the people we gave a tour to showed up on Sunday all on his own, and enjoyed the meeting. We'll meet with him more this next week, and it's cool 'cause he already knows several people in the ward."
"On Monday of the week before Christmas I went to Salvador, the capital of Bahia to do some paperwork for my visa. On Tuesday I stayed in Feira de Santana for a leadership training. I'm not a leader, my comp is, but I learned a whole lot. It was great. We had chances to talk to various new people including several Uber drivers who were interested, and helped a couple friends!"
"On Christmas we were back in Feira for a Christmas party with the Mission President! It was lots of fun and actually felt Christmassy which has been uncommon this December."
"But... Last Monday I had an "emergency transfer" and got a new comp! 😮 (Both missionaries were fine, there was just a problem in one of the areas). His name is Elder Correia. He's a Brazilian from Goiás who speaks just about zero English. 🫠🙃 I'm getting lots of great Portuguese practice, though sometimes it's a bit difficult when there's something I need to say but don't know a word, 'cause... he's not gonna know."
Going to Feira to sign a paper, and going to a member lunch there with Elder Simon. We're both really new still, but it was good Portuguese practice to keep up a conversation with a Brazilian for an hour or so with no experienced missionaries to help.
"This week we also had a Zone Conference (when we meet together with other missionaries in our region). I learned so much, it was great."
"One analogy our Mission President taught us which I thought was really helpful is the "cobblestone principle." He explained how each question we encounter as we learn about the gospel is like a cobblestone. By itself, they can seem like obstacles, but as we learn more by the Spirit and build our faith we build our "cobblestone path" back to our loving Heavenly Father."
"B-day party for the Mission Pres' wife and Zone p-day, also both in Feira. I was counting, and I think i have spent over ten days in Feira de Santana this transfer. Considering it's almost a two hour bus ride outside my area, not sure it's the most effective use of time, but pois é 🤷♂️"
"This Sunday (1/11/26) I baptized my first person! Her name is Maria Clara. She is super awesome, and had been looking to change her life for the better. When we started teaching her she was so excited to learn more about the atonement of Jesus Christ and the change He makes possible in our lives. She's eagerly been studying the Livro de Mórmon, praying, and on the way to church yesterday she asked if she can serve a mission one day! It's been awesome to watch her growth as she prepared to take this step to follow God."
"Last Sunday we got to baptize our friend Nivaldo! His faith and trust to make these steps to follow Christ are really cool to see. He lives pretty far outside of Alagoinhas, so teaching him meant a lot of sketchy bus rides, but really we couldn't have done any of it without the help of a member here, Gilson, who first introduced us to Nivaldo and has been so great giving him rides to church each week."
"FRENCH TOAST! My comp and I decided to splurge and make a special breakfast today. I also had the bright idea to try making a caramel sauce since toppings are scarce. Aside from being in the kitchen for almost three hours and receiving a crash course in the stages of candy-making, it actually turned out SO GOOD. Yes, I did eat 8 slices. 😋"
"Besides that, pretty much can sum up the last two weeks: my comp was sick.
I studied A LOT, and am kind of going crazy 🤪🫨😵💫 We didn't get out much at all, except for lunch (don't want to make the irmãs upset by canceling). I read through basically the entirety of the Portuguese textbook they gave us 🫨 and lots of the Book of Mormon 😁👍"
This past 6 weeks with this companion hasn't been easy--his comp is struggling with some things and they've had a hard time working, even before he got so sick this week. But they're both learning how to work through tricky situations and hopefully Bug will be able to have a different type of experience when transfers happen next week.
