Sleeping In . . .

Elder Burnham's email from April 24, 2010 . . .

Well, one thing I can tell you is that Zone Conferences are the most tiring things in the entire world. We had three more this week, in Santa Maria, Cruz Alta and Santo Ângelo. They have been great, and I have truly enjoyed being able to give my training on the Atonement. I hope that it helps make a little bit of a difference in our mission. I love the conferences, and it is awesome to be able to travel with President and Sister Myrrha, but it drains to the core. Luckily, today is P-day and we were able to do a little sleeping-in to recuperate.

So, on Sunday we had the baptism of Iara! It was awesome. There were so many things that could have gotten in her way; but, she made the decision and it was so good for her. She will be confirmed this Sunday, and this Sunday we will have the baptisms of Rose and Cíntia. They are the most elect people ever. We were just knocking doors one night when we passed by their house and Cíntia, who is 14, said that her mom wasn't home and that we should just come back another day. That is a usual excuse and so we weren't even going to go back, but we did, and Rose was there and let us in. That first Sunday they were already getting the bus to go to church as we were going to pick them up, saying that we were late and they were going alone. Now, two-and-a-half weeks after meeting them, they are going to be baptized!

Another great thing is that at a Family Night on Thursday at a member's house, the father of the family asked everyone to go around the circle and tell about themselves and how they met the missionaries. Rose got up and said how she was going to be baptized on Sunday. Then it passed to another woman, Ledi, who is another investigator who has been to church 6 weeks in a row but didn't want to set a date for baptism. She said that she was going to watch the baptism of Rose and Cíntia and that she was going to be baptized the following week with her grandson, Felipe! She marked her own date, haha; it was awesome! That other family, Roberto, Edimara and Jamile, are doing great. They are going to be out of town this weekend, so they won't be at church, but they are so good. Let's see what happens. The Lord has been blessing us with so many great families lately.

Lin, thank you so much for the Easter Package, it was awesome. I especially enjoyed the pictures. Amelia is so beautiful. Every looks at those pictures in awe of her blue eyes. That would be awesome if Brian came to Brazil. If he needs a translator here in 3 months, just let me know. Don't even need to pay me, just the plane trip is enough.

A normal day in the office is 10-6 doing numbers, preparing trainings, meeting and the like. We proselyte more than we are in the office, fortunately. We are only in our area at nights and Sundays, the other days we are in division in other cities, or doing the conferences. We have staff meetings every Friday, meetings with President and Sister Myrrha to prepare for Zone Conference and the LZ Council. We have meetings at the beginning of the transfers with the Trainers, and another with the Trainers and Trainees, and then we are usually called to be at the meetings of representatives from São Paulo. For example, last week with the Director of Public Relations, and other meetings with Stake Presidents and Bishops. I love you all so very much and I am excited to talk with you guys in two weeks, haha. Até mais!

Com Amor,
Elder Burnham