Bom Paster- Week Seven

This week really flew by. I can barly remember what I ate for lunch yesterday. 

I am training a new companion. He is Elder Salgado from Recife. (You can look it up. It is one of the cities in the north). From all that I have gotten to know of him in these past days, I love him a lot. He is a very reserved a lot of the time, but has his moments when he gets excited. He has an older brother that served a mission in Sâo Paulo. His parents are not members. He was baptized with his brother when he had 11-12 years. He is a sweet guy. I am already learning a lot from him. This week I had to focus a lot to not be too stressed out. I really wanted this week to be the best week ever because it was the first week of Elder Salgado. However, not everything went how I wanted it to. I had to remind myself that there are things sometimes that are not in my control. However, I can make an impact through the things that I am in control. 

Highlights:

-First day meeting with all the new missionaries

-First day in the field for Elder Salgado

-Weekly english class on Wednesday night

-District Leader meeting on Friday at Portão

-Speacial devotion on Sunday with Elder Benard 

Other fotos...

I am doing well and having a amazing time in Brazil.

Love and miss you all lots,

Elder Pinkney

Bom Pastor- Week Six

Hello world,

This past week was super awesome. On Tuesday, one of the Elders in my district had a birthday. We had a mini party in which I was able to bring a chocolate cake. It was so good that there was little room for lunch afterwards.

I went on splits with Elder Gordon. I got to visit this area called Colonial Murici. It is like the back country part of the city. There were lots of big houses and little farms. It was super pretty. 

Today we had transfers and I am going to be staying in Bom Paster for another transfer. My new companion will be a new missionary. I am super excited and I know we are going to have a lot of sucess together. I had to say goodbye to Elder Gil. 

Love and miss you all a lot,

Elder Pinkney

Bom Pastor- Week Five

I was surprised to see in my emails how everyone remembers that tomorrow I will have my one year mission birthday. I was not doubting you, all my sweet friends and family, but the fact is that I have not seen time better tracked then in the mission. Missionaries are really good at tracking time. I am joking, but it´s not a joke. 

This past week was awesome. We recovered a lot from our slower pace last week and we taught a lot of lessons. It has been incredible to see the people 5 weeks ago we were teaching and now the people we are teaching. It changes a lot. We also did a lot of traveling this past week. I went on splits with my good friend Elder Leptich my companion from the CTM. This was a day long awaited. We took advantage to buy a lot of food and pizza. Elder Leptich is simply the best. I loved working with him. 

Afterwards, we went on the hour bus trip to São Marcos to do a baptismal interview. I don´t know if I ever explained that but ever time we have a baptism in my district, I have to do the interview to make sure they are ready. This means I travel a lot sometimes. All went well and they had the baptized this past Saturday. 

On Saturday, we also had a ward activity for Father´s Day. True story they celebrate Father´s Day on a different day in Brazil. They had a BBQ and played this weird bowling like game called Bocha. It was a lot of fun. I didn´t get a photo of me playing but look at the photo with Elder Gordon and you can get an idea. 

I am loving the mission. There is nothing I would rather be doing. Love and miss you all lots. 

Bom Pastor- Week Four

Hello everyone!!

This past week was really interesting. Elder Gil was sick with the flu. We were able to leave to work, but he was pretty beat the whole week. We were not on our max. 

Something funny that happened this week was we were walking in the streets Sunday night (making contacts with people) and we stopped this guy who was walking named, Jose. We quickly realized that he was drunk (not something uncommon to find Sunday night), but he was really receptive. We talked a little with him. He could tell that I am not Brazilian. He asked me where I am from, etc... During this conversation , I had thought "maybe it would be better to just say bye to this guy, let him on his way, and just keeping walking." However, we stayed and we asked him we could pass by his house and he accepted. Later in the week, we passed by. He was not drunk and is actually a really cool guy. He was really excited that we visited him. He listened well to our message and accepted to be baptized. We will see how he progresses this coming week, but it was a cool experience. 

I am learning and teaching a lot. This week, I have pondered a lot about the purpose of opposition in the Plan of Salvation. Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be happy so He teaches us through the choices that we make. We learn and progress, and every time we fall down we get back up a little stronger. Every day is a learning opportunity. Every day, we have to learn to give a little more of ourselves to Heavenly Father and do His will. I know that serving a mission is what Heavenly Father wants for me to be doing right now in my live and I am grateful that I like being a missionary too. Despite all the weird things that I have learned and seen on the mission, I know that the church is true. 

Love and miss you all lots. Have a great week!!

Com amor,

Elder Pinkney