How time flies

Hello Friends and Family!

I am coming up on 7 months in the mission!  It's crazy how time flies.  This last month I swear was one week.   I’ve been really busy and that’s the best way to be as a missionary.  I won’t lie, this area has been pretty tough.   I haven’t felt like I’ve seen a whole bunch of results from my efforts as of yet, BUT I feel like we’re on the brink of something big here in Ponte Nova.  So I’m just gonna keep on working.  I appreciate all the support and prayers because like Chance the Rapper says.  When the prayers go up, the blessings come down.

One of these blessings is Laura and her family!  Unfortunately, the ward here in Ponte Nova doesn’t have a single young man or young woman.  So we have been focusing on teaching families to try to energize the ward.  And between Laura and her sister Maritine who lives next door, there are like 10 kids.  Laura knows that baptism is an important step in her life that she and her family need to take.  So please pray that she can understand why she needs to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ!

We were standing in front of our friend Jefferson’s house about to teach a lesson one day when this tiny old lady passes us on the street carrying a door on her head like a surfboard!  So we ended up rescheduling that lesson to help the lady carry this door to her house.  Now for some context, we were in a poorer neighborhood on top of this gigantic hill.  We climb this hill almost everyday and it’s awful. So when this lady told me that she climbed this hill with this door on her head, I was blown away.  I’m a 20 year old guy and I’m literally dead every time I get to the top of this hill.  So basically Brazilians are just built different.  And then when we got to the house there were a ton of people there all different ages, so we got to share a message with them and marked a return date.  

Yesterday was the second round of voting for the election and things got a little bit crazy.  Luckily, I’m in a really chill area of Brazil (and I’m on the Lord’s errand) so I’ve never felt in danger but over the course of the last week, I’ve been “interrogated” by people on the street whether I’m “Lula” or “Bolsonaro” (the two presidential candidates) to which I respond with “Jesus”. Unfortunately, some of the members here have a difficult time separating Church and politics, so yesterday we got a ride home from a member who was blasting song that goes “Ta na hora do Jair ja ir embora”.  Which means “it’s time for Jair (Bolsenero- the incumbent) to leave. The Leftist rally song.  And I may or may not have sung along because I didn’t know who Jair was and it was so catchy haha.  

Also, transfers happened last week!  I’m staying here in Ponte Nova with Elder Virginio but my other comp Elder Gabriel got a greenie American.  So now there are two companionships here!  I’m hyped because it’s been really fun to have another American in the house and I’m able to help him out with Portuguese! But unfortunately four guys in one house makes it way hard to keep it clean, so that’s not gonna be great.  

I was studying 2 Nephi 2 again this week and I love this Chapter because it explains so much about why bad things have to happen.  One of the hardest parts about missionary work is that generally the only people who want to listen to us are going through some hard times.  Also many people here have varying beliefs about the Fall of Adam and Eve and many people think that we are here to suffer because of their sin.  But Verse 25 is perfectly clear “Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy.” 

We are here to have JOY! There are all kinds of people in the world in all kinds of circumstances.  Seeing some of the living situations here in Brazil, I feel guilty for being born in the US.  But despite these differences, I’ve seen that many people here are happy!  And above all, I’ve seen that the members of the Church here are happy!  And that’s because Jesus Christ and His Gospel is the source of everlasting joy!  I love you guys and don’t forget this Gospel is one of Joy! 

Love, Elder Keeler 

Enjoy the two videos (zip files) at the end!