I'm glad that you had a fun, peaceful week! Mine was crazy! Things have been alright since bro. Ramnarine left. I served one day with the Assistants to the President, and almost 2 days with the Zone Leaders. I hate being in a trio. It made me feel like I was the third wheel. I woke up Friday morning, and got a call from the Senior Couple telling me that my new companion was here! We picked him up, and things have been great ever since. My new companions name is Elder Riese (Ree-suh). He is from Durban, South Africa....and he's white. Ha ha. Apparently there are a lot of white people down there. You learn something new everyday! He's brand new on his mission. He's only been out here for about 3 months, and I'm his second companion. He speaks Afrikaans, Dutch, and English fluently, and is learning Russian and French. It's ridiculous how he can just switch from any language and be able to understand it. He plays the Violin, and the piano, and is a HUGE cricketer. He loves to play cricket. in South Africa, they play cricket like we play baseball. He loves soccer, and we are getting along really well. We actually have someone who just committed to baptism yesterday, so we're getting along, and success is coming because we're working diligently! Woo hoo! I love it when that happens.
Brother Jeffrey is the man who committed to baptism on Saturday. He works in the interior here in Guyana/Brazil. He mines gold and other metals, so sometimes he is gone for a few months at a time. The interior is just pure jungle. I've heard stories from people that work there, and they talk about big anacondas, leopards, crocodiles, and spiders....etc. apparently it's really beautiful down there too. Anyways, He works down there, and it's not a very good environment. I'll spare you the details until after my mission. Bro. Jeffrey though, is a really awesome guy. Elder Rollins and I met him my first week here in Guyana. We taught him the restoration, and left him a Book of Mormon, and then he left to the interior. We weren't able to see him after that. When Elder Riese came in, I had the thought to check up on him, and see if he was home yet. Luckily, he had come home the day before! We sat down and had a lesson with him, and found out that he remembered everything we had taught him, and that he had read the Book or Mormon not once, but TWICE! Twice in 3 months. He told us that he prayed like we asked him to, and that he knew that the book was true. He also said that it helped him to avoid the temptation that is in the interior. He said that whenever he was tempted to drink, or gamble, or anything else, he would just read the book, and the temptation would go away. Now here's the coolest part....He remembers all the stories in the Book of Mormon! He recited to us about Lehi's journey with his family out of Jerusalem, and the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites. He also told us about how Christ came and visited the Nephites. I was amazed! I've never had someone do that before since I've been on my mission. I was so excited and nervous at the same time, because I wanted to teach him well and not mess anything up. I'm really excited to continue teaching him.
The pictures that I'm sending are just some random ones. That's Elder Riese. The other one is a picture I took of an EEL in a trench by our house. Yeah, an eel. We see all sorts of random fish and things in the trenches. All of the trenches lead to the ocean, so when it rains, the different fish can swim right up to the city. Its actually pretty funny. Elder Riese now watches all of the trenches like a hawk. Ha ha. He's got a great love for Guyana already, and it's just making the work more and more fun. I'm doing great Mama. No worries. Worry about Rylee instead. :)
Love you guys!
Brad
