Thank you so much for the news and the talk and everything. It looks like you have been having a good old time! I remembered how awesomely good Brick Oven is! Pizza here is good, but it is way different than U.S. Pizza and also super expensive. It’s like $20 for a normal pizza. If somebody invented Little Caesars here they would become rich. It’s good that you are keeping busy and liking your job and everything! You are terrific!
So to answer your questions: Elder Ayres is from Espírito Santo Brasil. He looks like an American though and has a funny accent and so everyone thinks that he is! Very funny. He was actually an ambassador with the Rotary club to the United States and so he speaks English really well too. I have been taking pictures but sadly today we almost missed the bus and I forgot my camera in the house. Once again I will have to beg your pardon and promise to send lots of pictures next week. Our transport is pretty much just normal. We take the bus and walk everywhere. There is a taxi for the mission but it is just for special stuff so we try not to use it all that much. One thing that is super crazy is that being a traveling assistant, we go everywhere! Yesterday we made it back to Londrina by a miracle. We were in President Prudente doing a division with the Zone Leaders and our bus left at 3:30. Lunch got delayed (like usual!) and we got to the bus station running and 3:28 when the attendant said that the bus only had 1 space left. We needed to get back that night because we had a baptism in our area to organize. So, we couldn´t go straight to Londrina, but they had 2 seats to a small little city about halfway there. So we bought the short term tickets and then convinced the bus drive to let us stay on if anybody missed the bus. He agreed and by a miracle 1 person missed the bus! So we got back in time. The division went well in Presidente Prudente. We marked 3 people to be baptized this coming Saturday there and the Branches there got really excited and started giving references and doing activities and everything. Super awesome!
The Leadership training got moved until tomorrow so I´ll let you know how that goes next week. The ward I am in right now is called Antares in the stake Londrina. It’s rough because so far I´ve only been in my own area 2 days and I don´t really know anybody, but we have baptized 2 weeks in a row there now so things are going well! Yesterday lunch was suuuuper good. I love good food. On the mission I managed to gain a little weight up to 158, but then this transfer I am back down to 152. Probably because I never know where I will be at any given moment and so it is a little hard to buy food sometimes. It’s all good though. Life rocks.
The mission is having a bit of difficulties right now. We are not baptizing as a whole as much as it needs to be. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to help out and inspire the Zone leaders and things like that, but it’s a little rough because I´ve never been a Zone leader. Do you have any suggestions about how to inspire better work? I think a lot of it has to do with example and so I´m trying to do my best work. I think that the leaders’ don´t really trust in me yet because I am so new in the mission and I haven´t had a lot of contact with them yet. Tomorrow will be an important day to gain trust so that Elder Ayres and I can work better with the leaders. Elder Ayres is super good and already basically a legend, so that helps out a lot. I will just be myself and do my best work. I hope that’s all anybody can ask. Thank you once again for all the help and support. I love you a whole ton!
I know that trials only make us stronger. I know that God is mindful of everything that happens and that he will not allow us to pass anything that we cannot handle. I know Christ lives and that He is our Savior. I know our family will be together forever. I love you Mom!
Tchão!
-Elder Markham
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