Week 23--10/21/13
“...Everyone was listening intently to the words of President
Monson during his talk, and afterwards the choir sang We Thank Thee O God for a
Prophet, and people here were singing along in Portuguese. I really felt their
testimonies as they sang that song, the spirit was really strong”
As always, I'm so happy to read your individual messages
for me every week. Do the days go by as fast for you as they do for me? Haha.
Anyway, it sounds like everyone had a good week.
Jacob: I'm glad you had a good week at school. Those
animals that you saw sound really cool. You would think I see snakes and crazy
spiders all the time, but I don't actually. There are roaches from time to
time, many lizards, and small frogs. I think I've seen a snake once, and it was
a small gardner snake, like you could find back home. I haven't seen any crazy
animal or bug here, but when I do, I will let you know and send you a picture.
Halloween is coming up soon, it's in 10 days. Did you decide what you're going
to dress up as? People don't have Halloween here. Unfortunately, there aren't
really good holiday traditions here that I know of yet.
Our new house
I imagine you guys were surprised to hear that we're
living in the church complex now. I will send you pictures. It is nice living in the
church. The only thing here that isn't very nice is the water pressure, which
is really weak. But this is Africa, and this house is really-really nice in
comparison to other houses here, including our old one. It is a lot safer too.
There is a guard here at the church. And if someone wanted to get in, they
would not only have to get past the guard, they would also have to get past
three other doors with deadbolts and padlocks. I definitely feel very safe
here.
Our investigators
This past week went well. Our families are still doing
well. Marcelino and Aida will be getting married and baptized on November 2. We
wanted to do it this coming Saturday, the 26th, but we had delays with a few
documents. But now, we have obtained all the documents necessary to submit to
the civil register here. After submitting them, there is a certain waiting
period before the marriage can be performed, that is why we will be doing the
wedding on the 2nd. We are hoping that the other two couples can get married and
baptized in the month of November as well, but they still do not have firm
dates. Hopefully in this coming week, we can get them to commit to marriage and
baptism. As always, the members have been a great help as they accompany us to
lessons during the week. I hope my other future areas will have members that
are so willing to help like we have here in Quelimane.
General Conference in Quelimane
This past Saturday and Sunday we watched General
Conference. We had about 40 people come on Saturday, and 110 on Sunday. I
really enjoyed it! This conference had many talks with similar themes. I really
enjoyed talks about missionary work, of course. I wanted to share one thing
that I learned from watching conference. I will share it in Portuguese.
O Elder Ballard disse que se queremos
compartilhar o evangelho com mais pessoas, temos que falar com mais pessoas
cada dia. Isso e verdade. As vezes, enquanto andando na rua, eu deixo uma
pessoa me passar sem falando com ela, porque eu penso que aquela pessoa nao
estaria interessado em ouvindo nossa mensagem. Mas eu nunca vai saber sem
primeiro falando com aquela pessoa, dando-lhe a opportunidade para ouvir a
mensagem. Eu sei que se falamos com mais pessoas cada dia, vamos encontrar
aqueles que estao prontos para aceitar o evangelho.
The members and investigators who came really enjoyed the
conference as well. At the end of the Sunday morning session, everyone was
listening intently to the words of President Monson during his talk, and
afterwards the choir sang We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet, and people here
were singing along in Portuguese. I really felt their testimonies as they sang
that song, the spirit was really strong.
I know that we have prophets and
apostles in our day who speak the things the Lord would have us hear and I know
that following the words of our prophets will protect us from temptation and
enable us to have happy families. I'm so very grateful that I'm here in Mozambique
sharing the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is a huge
sacrifice, leaving behind my life back home for two years, including music. I'm
grateful for you guys and the sacrifice this mission has required of you too,
letting me come all the way out here for two years, not to mention the
financial sacrifice as well. I love you guys sooooooo much, and I can feel your
love and your prayers for me every day. I know you are always thinking of me.
Thank you.
Elder Rebollo
P.S You guys can still send me handwritten letters from
time to time; it will be a nice surprise when they finally get to me. I would encourage
others in the ward to do the same. It may be weeks or months until I see them,
but it's always nice to have a hand written letter. You will still need to send any package to
the mission office, and they will get it to me.
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