Week 33 I think! Love you guys — Called to Serve in Cuiaba

Alright you guys this week was the freaking best week ever I love being a missionary more than anything on the planet.

First off I met a dude this week named Adobar. We were walking home on Wednesday and he was walking in the middle of the street and I yelled GOOD EVENING DUDE haha and then he just looked at us and came running over to us and was like having a really hard time and was super drunk but like just so sad so we just chatted him up. We talked to him for sec and I just felt so strong that God loved this dude so I gave him a big old hug and felt like I should say a prayer with him and Elder Thompson right there on the street. We did that and after that finished we just told him to come to church and started walking the other direction and he just went walking up the hill with his stray pet dog. As we were walking I felt like I needed to run back to him and ask him if he was hungry so we just sped walked to where he was. I asked him if he was hungry and then he just looks at me and goes "so hungry” and I was like let me get you some nice Burger King haha and then he just got so emotional and was like “thank you so much, is it okay if I split it with him?” and then pointed to his dog. In that moment I was just kind of shocked. This homeless dude who was just starving was so ready to give something he wanted and needed so badly to something else. It really touched my heart to see how much love he had for his dog. When I brought him the food he just started bawling and was like "God loves you so much” and I just was so touched by this dude. I gave him another hug and told him I loved him. It was already super late so we didn't have much more time to talk to him because we had to head home, but in that moment I felt Christ's love for Adobar. Homeless and drunk and without food or water didn't mean anything when it came to the fact that the love of Christ extends to all people. I love Adobar and I know one day I will encounter him again.

Things are all lined up for Tiago's baptism this week, that is if the bus that marries people for free comes to the city again when it's supposed to on the 9th. He's so exited to be baptized and just doing everything he can to stay away from his old addictions. A couple of days ago we had just gotten home and I got the feeling freaking strong that I needed to call him. He's been having a super hard time with money lately and he's been super stressed out and we haven't been able to meet with him as much as we like because he lives 1.5 hrs on the bus away from us so its been hard with him. When I called him he kind of just answered all bummed out and was like "dude today was some booty, I really had just a sucky day" hahah and we just started talking and he was like "I'm gonna be honest with you I literally almost went and bought cigarettes because I was just dying today but then I watched a couple of old talks from the Apostles and that helped me a ton", and I was like that is so RAD. This weekend he had to work Saturday and Sunday all day and he was so sad he couldn't make it to Conference but we're gonna go to his house another day and watch some of the talks with him. It's wild to see his testimony of the Church, and specifically of the living Prophet grow and give him strength to overcome addictions he's brawling with.

This week was an incredible thing for me. I read this talk called “If You Don’t Like It, Change It" I think is what it's called, and it just talked all about how if we aren't diggin somethin too much in our lives we gotta change it: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/carrie-roberts_if-you-dont-like-it-change-it/ Shout out to Elder Micah Brown for sending me the talk link and changing my life. Love you bro. But I really just got thinking and praying about how I could be happier and more full of love for the people who are around me. I had been waiting for some magical like fairy or some cheesy ish like that to come and make me happy and make me love these people, and I was pretty TICKED OFF it wasn't happening hahah. This week I really realized the importance of CHOOSING to be happy. Choosing to love people. Choosing to do whatever the freak it is that you want. Being happy really is a choice, and everyone says that but it's so true. In every single lesson this week I just wanted these people to know how much Christ loves them, and I wanted them to know that life doesn't have to suck eggs. In 2 Nephi 2:25 we read that the whole purpose of our life on this earth is to freaking have joy. It's so simple. When we choose to be happy and choose to let the Savior fill us with His love for others, life becomes just a ball. If you aren't happy, choose to be happy, change what needs to be changed, and let the Savior give you a lovely hug. hahahahaha

I am going to get a haircut today. Should be nice. Hope all is well with you guys wherever you are. I love you guys so freaking much. I just remembered that it was Spring Break last week for you guys so I hope that was good. We should have 2 baptisms this Saturday. . . please pray for our friend Emerson that he’ll be able to keep away from smoking his FREAKING cigarettes!

Love, Elder Porter