So, this is the last email that I'll be sending you all as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (technically, como um missionário de tempo integral de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias.) Technically, I won't be going home until next Tuesday, but I won't have time to send emails next Monday, seeing as I'll have meetings for the whole day on Monday. So, I do believe that this is it.
Top investigators:
Juliana, Aginaldo: They have a baptismal date marked for this Sunday, so please pray for them. They already passed the interview, so thisll just be a matter of keeping them excited until Sunday (they werent able to go to church last week, for this they werent baptized last week.)
Jamarius (new?): He was an investigator when we got here. Hes a Haitian that doesnt speak any Portuguese or English, so its SUPER hard to talk to him. At the beginning, he didnt want anything to do with us, but he went to church last week and he seems interested in baptism now (we think? Its hard to read someone that doesnt speak any common language.) So, we'll see what we can do this week.
...we have some other people that have potential, but I won't be here to get them baptized, so I won't waste your time with their details ;)
So...yeah. I'm in the last week of my mission. It all goes down like this (but remember that I, being the charming human being that I am, will likely be hamming up a couple free dinners. Why yes, I do make members love me ;D) :
Today is as normal.
Tuesday, I'll be going to the temple in Campinas, which should take my whole day.
Wednesday, I'm headed to São Roque to say goodbye to some people there.
Thursday is work as usual, and at night, a couple super cool members are gonna take us to a rodízio de pizza (basically, an all-you-can-eat pizza place. Theyre good.)
Friday and Saturday, work as normal.
Sunday, I'll go to church, we'll have a baptismal service right afterwards (please pray for Juliana and Aginaldo!), I'll go to lunch, and from lunch, I'll get a van to take me to São Paulo. I'll sleep in the mission office that night.
Monday, I'll have autosufficiency meetings all day (basically, I'll learn how to use money. Now that I'll be using dollars and not the Brazilian Real, I probably need to be a bit wiser with my money. No more multiplying by $3.20 to justify buying pizza.) That night we'll have dinner with President Farnes.
Tuesday, I'll go to 25 de Março in the morning to buy some souvenirs, and go to a meeting, and then I'll head to the airport. I get my first plane out of São Paulo at 11:30 PM. I'll head to Miami, then to Dallas, and then to Kansas City at 1:52 PM on Wednesday.
And that is my mission.
It really has been an incredible 2 years. In the past 2 years, I've sweated, I've been exhausted, I've lost a ton of weight, I broke my ankle, avoided dangerous protests (I'll have to explain that one to you when I get home, Mom), but most importantly, I've seen the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ change and mold the lives of hundreds of people. I have seen miracles that I cannot deny were done only by the hand and grace of God. I know that this is the Gospel of Christ, established in His church. I know that God has a plan for us, a plan that will let us overcome our faults and weaknesses, and through the Atonement of Christ be sanctified and return to His presence, with our families. God is proactive in helping His children repent of their sins and come back to Him, so I thank God for the privilege I've had to be a tool in His hands.
Thanks everybody for your support the past 2 years!! I'll be seeing you all soon! Love you!!
Élder Youd
PS- Just to remind all of you, I'll be speaking at church in the Gallatin Ward on July 19, so be there at 10:00 AM to listen! Please come if you live close by, itd be great to see everybody!!!
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