Elder Lofton Q Bean : Great to be in the "Field" Again Teaching a Ton of Lessons

We traveled a ton this past week and seemed to never stop at our apartment, but it was a blast! On Thursday, Elder Duarte and I left to go to an area called Lago Azul. There we did a trade with Elder Neres and Elder Fontana who are serving in that area. Me and Duarte went on splits with them for the whole day! We got a ton of work in and it was really successful. Elder Neres and I were able to mark 2 solid baptism dates and found 5 new investigators. It was great to be in the "field" again and teach a ton of lessons. It was a great experience and learned a lot. Elder Duarte and Elder Fontana had a ton of success as well. We stayed the night with them and then the next morning, we headed up to Gama-Leste to do splits with the zone leaders there. The elders from Gama had told Irmã Chirley that I would be coming. When we got to Gama, we went to have lunch at Edimar and Irmã Chirley´s house with their family!!! It was so great to be back. Irmã Chirley was so happy and was going crazy. I love that family so much. They made a hugee lunch for us and it was great!! They live in an apartment now and they rented out the "party room" in the apartment building that is big area and has a huge table where we would eat. They said it was a special occasion! I enjoyed being back there so much and felt a lot of love from them. That day went great and we got a lot of work done even though it was pouring rain for about 4 hours. I went with Elder Seth! He is a stud and it was great being able to teach and work with him. Elder Duarte went with Elder Xavier. At night, we all went to an area called Santa Maria to do 6 baptism interviews. Me and Elder Seth went with one of the elders in Santa Maria named Elder Josephson to the house where we would do 3 interviews. It was 3 awesome guys from Ghana!! They moved to Brasil during the World cup and decided to just stay and work and live here. They speak a language called "Tree" (that’s what the name sounds like) and they speak broken English and a little Portuguese. The Spirit was so strong during the interview. It was a really special experience. They are really awesome guys who feel that one of the purposes they felt to stay in Brasil was to be found by the missionaries and join the church. They desire to go to the United States or back to Ghana someday and they want to stay firm and make sure that they know where the church is located wherever they go!

On Saturday morning, we went and visited some families and then we ate lunch at Agostinho´s house!! He made some BBQ for us and it was great to see him and his family again. His 16 year old nephew who I had started teaching before I left, has already been baptized and going strong in the church! It was awesome being back in Gama for the day and work with the zone leaders there! We had a blast and it was a ton of fun!! They are baptizing a ton and working really hard!

We then headed up to Novo Gama where we stayed the afternoon before coming back to Asa Sul because we had stake conference at 7:00. Stake Conference was great!!! President and Sister Lundgren spoke both Saturday night and Sunday morning and there was an Area Seventy visiting, Elder Antunes. Elder Antunes is really energetic and was a great speaker! Super hilarious and also very spiritual. He spoke both days as well. He talked a lot of the importance of doing Councils. Within the church, ward groups, within the family, and within a marriage. How we should always discuss things together and make decisions together. He talked a lot of missionary work and how the members and missionaries must work in unity! He was awesome. He has a great way of grabbing everyones attention, being funny, and serious when its the right time. He asked everyone to raise their hand if they knew at least one name of an investigator that the missionaries are teaching in their wards. Only about 15 hands went in the air out of the whole audience. He then said jokingly but seriously, "Brothers and Sisters..., Repent!!" We can’t do this work without the help of the members. Our investigators wont feel welcomed at church, wont stay active after baptism, and wont progress unless the members are helping! I am so grateful for the awesome members that we do have in our ward in Asa Sul who help us so much! They do so much for us and we love em so much!!

This week we are plannin on doing a few more trades and splits with some missionaries. It’s great being able to see how the work is going in other areas and learn from the other missionaries. There is always something new to learn, that we can then apply in the work and in life.

I am doing great and having the time of my life out here!!!

I hope you all have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Bean