20 January 2014

Hey how are things going on back at the house? School finally started back up again, or is it still the snow apocolypse? Things have been pretty normal here.  Monday was p day so we emailed, bought groceries, and came back home and slept b/c we were both pretty tired after having to be at the airport till 10 at night when they picked me up. Tuesday was the first day we got to go to work here and Porto Velho is pretty awesome! We had a District Meeting in downtown Porto Velho b/c here all the buses go downtown before they go anywhere else so its a lot easier to do District Meeting at the downtown chapel.  But when we got there, the sister missionaries who are in charge of that chapel and have the keys, their keys broke inside of the lock so we were stuck outside. There was a building in the back that gave us some shade so we all ran back there and had district meeting in the shade. Most of the rest of the day was pretty normal.  Mostly just meeting the investigators and starting to get a feel for the area. Wednesday was pretty normal.  Did I mention that it rains everyday here.  And I mean everyday.  We were coming back from lunch and it was raining only a little and so we decided that we could get back to the house before it really started to pour out rain.  We got about half way and then the heavens opened and began to just pour out rain. We ended up huddling outside a shop for a few minutes and then decided we were going to get wet so ended up getting soaked, but made it home.  Thursday was normal. Friday we had two of our investigators who had baptismal interviews get interviewed for baptism, but let me back up a little bit first.

  So these two investigators are both amazing. They are a mother and her son and she still lives with her parents and is 27 years old. All of her family except her and her sister in law and all super 7th day adventists.  Her parents wouldn´t even talk to us really and would always leave the room whenever we got there. They told her that she couldn´t baptise and she was afraid that if she got baptized she would be kicked out of the house and put out onto the streets.  She called us that morning to tell us she didn´t want to be baptized, so we talked to her over the phone and asked if we still could come by with the zone leaders. She said yes so about 3pm we went by and asked her if we could do the interview in the chapel.  She said yes, and went back inside to get ready while we headed to the chapel to prep.  We´d decided that if she passed the interview with the ZLs we would see if she would be baptized right then b/c we didn´t know what would happen between friday and saturday knowing her parents. Her parents knew that she had a baptismal date set for the next day as well. When she showed up, had her interview and she passed and then she asked us (we hadn´t said anything yet) if she could be baptized right now b/c she didn´t want her parents to know about it.  Got everything ready for a quick baptism, and got her and her son both baptized. She was able to be confirmed this Sunday.  Seeing her example, and her courage to follow the gospel even if it meant that she might be kicked out of her house, was amazing to me.  She truly has a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

  Friday night we visited another investigator who was ready to baptized and had already been interviewed, but had always put off being baptized.  We showed up at his house and he almost immeaditely started talking about church the Sunday before and how he wanted to as he put it, be baptized with the spirit like the girl he´d seen.  He watched somebody be confirmed and we told if that he need to be baptized with water first.  He asked when he could be baptized and we said we had a baptismal service at 10 the next day. So 10 the next day he was baptized. That night he had some problems with his heart and was in the hospital so he couldn´t make it the next day. Hopefully he´ll be feeling better so he can make it to church the next week.

  Saturday and Sunday were both really busy, Saturday, taught an english class, then had a baptism, and then had a service project, where we helped a family patch their roof. Sunday was church and then had our lunch which was clear on the other side of town, and found some more amazing people to teach. This week has been pretty amazing. This week we have people ready to be baptized and so we´re super excited.  I need to throw in a thanks and shout out to everyone who wrote me a letter at the Ward Christmas breakfast. I got those letters this week and it means the world to me to everyone who took the time to write even a small little note. Thank you so much! Hope everything is going great at home!  Have a great week! I miss you all! 

Love Elder Battraw