Is it cold there?

This week was really interesting. It passed by way fast. We had interviews with President Houseman, and he told me that they are planning to open up another branch in Paulista. It was really cool to hear that an area that I served in is still having success, and I hope that everyone there can work together to help the branch grow.

We also had a week of finding. We found a magic street. We have an investigator that has a little business in his house. He sells coconut, and other things, so we always talk to him in front of his house. His name is Paulo. And the last 4 times that we passed by, some college-aged student would stop and start talking to us, even if we were teaching. So we found Raissa, Guilhereme, and André this week, and all of them seem really open and interested in learning more.

It was Stake Conference here, and we had two young men that went with us to church -- Micheal and Harthur. They actually went to church on their own and left when they saw that it was closed. We found them returning home, and they walked about 45 mins with us to another church for the conference. It was really cool. President Houseman said that we have to be Warriors of Zion, and not Warriors of the Sofa.  It was really funny. He was telling the members that they can't stay in their house all day long, and it was a really creative way of doing it.

I still don't know about calling home at Christmas or whose home we will do it at. I really don't know many families here still. I know that one of the members that helps us out a lot is going to be travelling, so I will have to sit down with with Elder C to think about who could help us out. Even the poorest areas have wifi. It is really interesting. The houses can be really small and made of mud, but they will always have a TV, a cell phone, and internet access. So its not a matter of who would have the conditions, but more of who has the heart. haha. But it won't be a problem.

Lucky missionaries in the states with smart phones. I can't even imagine if we walked around with a smart phone here. Every day we would be robbed. But everyone knows that we don't have anything of worldly value, and they leave us alone. But in Paulista a man tried to take our phone, and I gave it to him, but he didn't want it because the cell phones here that the missionaries use are really small and simple and cheap.

I also finished the Book of Mormon this week. It is always a great experience, and it is giving me a desire to learn more about church history. So maybe I will read Our Heritage now. I don't know. The Book of Mormon is an incredible book, and I know that it is the most powerful tool that we have as missionaries.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Nielson