Monday, August 3, 2015

Monday, August 3, 2015- week 48- Happy birthday week in Poços de Caldas, Brazil!



Hey Family!

Thank you all for the Birthday wishes!! It's weird to think that I'm turning 19 in 2 days, but then again, it HAS been a whole year since I turned 18...and plus I'm pretty sure I'm like the youngest missionary out here so it's good to be able to say yeah I'm 19. So, this past week was SUPER busy.

So, on Tuesday, we had the transfers and our comps actually left on Monday, but our new companions got here on Tuesday night along with all the new Sisters too. I have a photo included with most of my district (two of the Sisters had already gone flying out of the District meeting). Anyways, they also changed the date of the Mission Tour with the Seventy to Thursday instead of Friday, so on Thursday, we got up even earlier than ever. We had to wake up at 2:30 in the morning, walk an hour and a half to the chapel in the Sister's area, then catch a van that drove some 3 hours to a city called Rio Claro. When we got to the city, the driver got lost, so we just drove around for an hour looking for the chapel, so we were late. BUT, Elder Costa wasn't even there because he had to go back to São Paulo because of a health problem in the family. So, the Mission Tour was canceled, but we ended up having another Multizona there and then we drove all the way back home. I was completely exhausted. We might have the Mission Tour this week, but I'm not even sure about that.

Needless to say, I do NOT like waking up at 2:30 in the morning to drive some 4 hours away. It's not as fun as it seems. We went back to work on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but appointments fell and we got behind schedule big time. Nossa Senhora...And I think this week is gonna be just as hectic if not more.

Yeah, about the birthday week baptism- so the situation with him is that he lives in a city about an hour and a half away from Poços, but he doesn't have the church where he lives. He's dating a member here and wants to marry her. He found out about the church through her and prayed and already got an answer to his prayers. He'll be able to come back to Poços every two weeks, but he wants to be baptized as soon as possible, like this Sunday. He hasn't yet gone to church, so I talked to my President, and he said I needed to talk to the bishop. I haven't been able to yet since that was yesterday and today is P-Day and is gonna be pretty crazy for me. I'm going over to São João today (the stake center and where our Zone leaders live) to do splits while my comp (Elder Stone) goes to Piracicaba for a leader meeting. I'll be over there for two days away from my area. Then, we get back on Wednesday and on Thursday we have Zone meeting and I think we might have Mission Tour on Friday. I really can't say for sure. We would have to teach this one guy on Saturday, do the interview on Saturday, then baptize him on Sunday. *takes a deep breath* *exhales* Man, I need some rest haha.

Well, as a notice, I got a package and letter from you guys after the District meeting! Thank you so much! All the Americans were over me trying to get to the Chik-Fil-A sauce. I was very happy to get that along with Sour Patch kids and Airheads!! Also, thanks for the tie! It's always great to get new ties! I love you guys!

As for some our your questions, my comp Elder Stone is from New Jersey and got here on the mission one transfer before me (meaning when he was leaving the CTM, I was taking his place there). The camera is awesome. I write in my journal every single day. We haven't yet gone to the Cristo here, but we're planning to go there one of these P-Days here during this transfer. I'll be sure to tell you when we go.

So, thank you very much for the emails! Remember that I love you all and appreciate the time you take to communicate with me. I know it sometimes gets boring or annoying, but it really means a lot to me as I only have one day per week to talk with people I know. Have a great week!

Your brother, son, and friend,
Elder Matthew Collins


P.S. Okay, so as missionaries, we teach 3 main lessons. The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Plan of Salvation. I think if there was one that I would share with you guys, its the Plan of Salvation with emphasis on the Atonement of Christ. There's a lot that I didn't know about the Atonement before the mission that we really need to know to have it's full effect.


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