SEVEN MONTHS! Week 28 — Called to Serve in Cuiaba

Pip pip da doodly doo another week passed and I have muchly things to talk about hahha.

First off were chillin in the house of one of the members with her cousin and we get a phone call from the mission office and turns out Elder Woodson got transfered to Alta Floresta which is like a 31 hour bus ride North hahaha and so he was a little bummed out. I am not even gonna lie it was a little bit of a bummer becasue we were finally becoming homies and he was starting to work more and being less of a cotton-headed ninny muggin, but can't do anything about it now hahah. My new companion's name is Elder Thompson and he is from West Jordan, Utah and it's pretty wack having a companion from the same state as me hahah. We got talking about stuff before the mission and he asked me which school I went to and I was like Lone Peak and he just got the sourest face I've ever seen and was like I hate Lone Peak hahahahahah so I started dying laughing and asked him why and his answer about murdered me. He goes "your Ultimate Frisbee team always beat us and they're so stuck up and always bully everyone and like push and shove so I hate Lone Peak” hahhah and I about passed out from laughter hahha. Freaking Ultimate Frisbee. I felt kind of bad I laughed so hard at him so I promised him I'd throw the frisbee around with him in the park today. It's always good to toss the plastic disc with a well educated disc tosser.

So this area I'm in is one of the biggest in the mission like I've already said a couple times and we were walkin down a street and I had absolutely 0 hints of a clue where the cuss I was, so we decided to get on the bus and go to the bus terminal that I recognized and so we get on the bus and about 25 seconds after we get on I realized the street we were walking down lead right out to where we were trying to go and I felt like such a dunce. Literally if we would have walked 40 more steps I woulda known where we were. We get off the bus at the terminal and I was all frazzled because we waisted money on the bus and I felt like such a moron we started walking back down the street toward where we were and passed a couple people on the street so I decided to take advantage and make some contacts. We ended up getting some super special contacts with some people who I can already see will be changed by the gospel, and this little experience humbled me a bit. It was interesting how our Heavenly Father used me being a lost impatient young sap to bless the lives of his other children who are looking for something larger in their lives. It made me realize how the smallest little things in our lives, even sometimes the flaws that we think are so annoying about ourselves, are the things the Lord uses to help us complete our purpose here on this earth. Prreeeeeetyyyyyy coooooooolllllll huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh.

I had such a rad experience this week again with my communist friend Ricardo. He stopped drinking and smoking and finally was able to get baptized and so on Saturday he asked me if I would baptize him. I asked the Sisters if they had an extra white jumpsuit for me at the church and they said yea and when I showed up, they gave me the extra white jumpsuit and it was so small and tight ahahah. It's a blessing that it was a tiny bit extra roomy in the nether regions haha or I woulda been cooked. But when Ricardo and I entered the water he was so exited and so nervous and so was I and to make things worse is name is super long, it's like Ricardo Alves Oliviera Pireira Junior or something like that and I literally botched his name like 5 times in the font haha so he ended up just repeating each name with me one by one like a Primary kid haha and when he popped out of the water he was just beaming and his Mom was just bawling and he gave me the biggest hug ever. Everyone was so happy and after we changed our clothes we went back into the chapel and the Sisters sang a nice little song and it was so beautiful the Spirit was so strong. Everyone was crying and I won't even lie I shed a manly tearling or 2. After the baptismal reunion ended we had a little bit of cake and Ricardo goes "this is how you know that something really is true, when you have a feeling like you've never had before in your life” and I was like let's freaking go Ricardo is already getting it! I called him the next day on Sunday and was talking to him about his confirmation and he was like dude I just feel like a different person, like before the baptism I had such a desire to drink and smoke and I am now receiving strength like I've never received before, and what makes me so happy is that he's noticing the Church of Jesus Christ is different. I know without a doubt that this Church is true exactly for that same reason, it's different. Being different is not something that is bad, in fact it is the freaking best thing on the earth. Every time I leave the house in the morning I look at my sunburned American face with my white shirt and tie and little plastic name tag and think I probably look so freaking weird when I'm walking down the street and there is nothing more bad a than having that feeling. Being different isn't a bad thing, it's the best thing on this earth. It's so beautiful to see that even the newest of members of this Church notice the difference of love and happiness and strength they receive for being different from everything else. I know that it is super easy to chill in the world and eat white bread all day or whatever worldly things you enjoy doing, and there is nothing wrong with eating white bread (unless you ask my mom) but something I have really noticed out here is that if you're sad or feeling down and you are looking for a different feeling in our life, you have to act different. Don't be afraid to be different.

Lately I have really been trying to listen to the Spirit and follow all the promptings I get, especially when we are out contacting. It's very interesting how I have been noticing the Spirit leads me to the scariest people hahaha. Like I'm always just horrified to talk to the people I'm lead to. On Saturday we were walking back from lunch and I saw these three absolutely enormous meathead dudes who were drinking outside of a store and they were absolutely massive haha. I have no doubt that every single one of them would be accepted into the salty splatoon. I get talking to these guys and my companion Elder Thompson was all scared of them so he stood like 5 feet behind me (like a good 15 frisbee diameters) and so I emotionally wrestled these 3 jock bags off their high horses and at the beginning they had no interest in talking to me and after some nice persistence they ended up getting super duper interested. I got the address of one them and he is actually super anxious for our message and I am so grateful the Spirit is leading me to the scariest people because 1. normally they are just acting scary because they are trying to hide up how soft and emotional they truly are and if you can crack them they're the ones who become the strongest testimonies of the love Christ has for them, and 2. I literally have no problems talking to normal people now haha it's like a breeze. I talked to 16 people on the street yesterday and got 12 addresses and it really humbles me how in the beginning I would talk to the Spirit in my mind and be like "what the freak bro why are you sending me to the gnarliest dudes I've ever seen in my life” hahah and now all I'm thinking is "thanks man” so it's just interesting to see how when we choose to obey the little things the Spirit tells us no matter how nutty they may seem, we end up being grateful and seeing the blessings. I have such a firm testimony of that very thing and know that sometimes Heavenly Father uses us for something so much greater than we can imagine. Don't be afraid to listen to the Spirit when He comes into your head and heart, and if you're not feelin his presence go kneel down and ask God to bless you with his broship again because I may be young, sunburned, hungry, American, and full of zits but something that I know, literally know. Like don't just feel, actually know folks, is that without the Spirit in my life I would be nothing. I am not out here inviting people to come unto Christ because every baptism I receive a bonus check of 400 dollars or something like that, i just wanna help people realize how much happier and better their lives are with the Spirit passing the days with them. I invite you, reader person, to start trying to live your life in a higher manner so the Spirit can chill with you more often. I am not inviting you to do so because it's the right thing to do, or because your parents would be proud of you for making good choices or some cheese like that (although those are good reasons too) but I just want you to notice how much of a difference the Spirit makes in your life when He's with us. I want you to feel of the love Christ has for you and I want you to feel full of purpose and happiness because you don't have to be sad.

Love you guys don't be shy to write me some words. (proskelley@missionary.org)

Elder Porter
p.s. I have no time to respond to you guys this week because I used my time FaceTiming my girlfriend (mom) but I promise I'll respond next week <3