Elder Derek Titus: I'm Still in Bauru...

Drinking coconut milk with Elder Campêlo

Aí, beleza?

In the photo above I am drinking what is called água de côco (coconut water), it’s different than milk, but still takes being a man to drink it. It is actually pretty good.

Surprise! I’m still here in Bauru. So, since April was the worst month in the history of the Londrina Mission, President Leal wants to have May be the best month, so we all had to set goals. The total for the mission, based on the goals, was 386 baptisms. That’s pretty lofty. He wants everyone to stay put and be responsible for your own goals. So basically, no one got transferred in the mission, only the ones leaving and arriving. My first companion, Elder da Silva went home. There will be another normal transfer in two weeks on the 1st of June (or something like that), then also the 1st of July because the new mission president will arrive. So it will only be 4 weeks before it is time for transfers again. Hallelujah! (Especially if I get a bad companion in June!)

So the mom of the young girl I talked about last week, is mean. She didn’t let her get baptized, but we’re praying for this week.

On Sunday, one of the young men in our ward brought a friend, who was absolutely golden. His name is Genesis. We went to visit him Sunday night, and marked a baptism for the 29th. We returned Monday, and taught about the Book of Mormon, with great success, and he was super amazing. He said that he loved every bit of church, and that he wants to get baptized. He prayed to start and to close Monday’s lesson. And the way this kid prayed (14 years old) was something that I’ve never seen before. He talked to Heavenly Father like we weren’t even there, and like He was standing right there in front of him. As a matter of fact, I’m not too sure that He wasn’t standing right there with us. It was a completely selfless prayer, and I was holding back the tears. Anyway, so we left there certain that he would get baptized. We returned Tuesday night, and clapped to get in the house, and the mom came storming out to talk to us, and to inform us that he would no longer be participating in our lesson or the church, because it is a bad church. I asked her what she knew about the church, and if she’d ever been there, and other things, of which she didn’t respond. I’ve never been so mad in my life, and I had some very un-Christ-like feelings and thoughts toward her. After my huge breakdown, I finally got it back together, and got on with life. I don’t understand why this happens. Right when we find someone golden, Satan lets all %#@ loose to keep them from progressing. Nonetheless, he didn’t win, this kid isn’t condemned. I personally think that Heavenly Father let this happen because if this kid would have gotten baptized, in another 5 years he would have served a mission and converted the world –then what would all of the other missionaries do? Back to reality. Life goes on.

And here is a picture of one of the best Brazilian creations ever! Forget those hollow Mexican churros, these are caramel filled. OOOOOOOOH SOOOO GOOOOD!!!!